Wouldn't it be the Greatest
by yogibogi
Summary: The third and hopefully last version of the capricious times that befall the Marauders and their friends during their final year at Hogwarts. Like the other two stories, Mainly SBOC, some JPLE, and RLmanyOCs. yep, that's right, Remus is pimpin! Please R
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling.

CHAPTER ONE

Nikki Patil couldn't wait for the night to be over. As she sat alone in the corner of her crowded living room twirling a lock of her long black hair, she wondered why she had to be subjected to the never-ending boredom that surrounded her. It wasn't fair. Why did she have to stay home on the last night of the summer holidays just to help her mother entertain her dull guests? The kitchen was full of ladies helping her mother. What did she need Nikki for?

"Of course, VJ wasn't forced to stay," she said to herself bitterly. "He always gets to go out whenever he wants to."

"Oi, Nikki, what're you doing sulking in the corner by yourself?" Nikki turned to face her older cousin, Misha, who was standing over with her a plate full of food. "Don't you wanna eat?"

"I'm not hungry," Nikki replied with a frown.

"Oh, come off it. Eat. The food's delicious," Misha replied, taking a bite.

"I know it is. I helped cook it," Nikki said, and added sourly, "all day long."

"Oh." Misha looked at Nikki with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Is that what's bugging you?"

Nikki sighed in frustration. "Yes. And the fact that it's my last night here before I go back to school, and Mum still had to have one of her stupid dinner parties. I mean would it have killed her to just let me have a day of rest or a day of doing whatever I wanted to do?" Nikki didn't wait for an answer from her cousin but went on to say, "I helped her the whole day hoping that she'd let me go out at night to hang out with my friends. But, no. That didn't make any difference to her. She said I had to stay at home with the 'guests'. Everyone here's family! I see them all the time. What's the big deal if I went out?"

"Oh, come on Nikki," Misha finally got to say. "You know how it is with us. Good Indian girls just aren't supposed to go out. We're supposed to stay at home and help our mothers."

"That's bull," Nikki said. She scowled at all of her unsuspecting relatives, who were engrossed in their dinner.

"You should be glad that your parents actually let you go away for school," Misha said reproachfully. "I don't think my parents would've sent me. VJ was the first one in our family to go. And they only let him 'cause he's a boy."

"Yeah I know. They only let _me_ go because they knew that he was going to be there as well." Nikki rolled her eyes. "As if _I_ needed to be looked after. If they knew what he was up to over there…"

"Hey, what _is_ my brother up to over there?" Misha asked Nikki curiously.

Nikki laughed, her light brown eyes sparkling, "Okay, just 'cause I'm a little mad at him right now because he was allowed to go out and I wasn't, doesn't mean I'm going to rat on him. He _is_ one of the few people that I get along with at school. I need him to survive my last year."

"Gosh, is it that bad for you? VJ seems to love it."

"Yeah, well, VJ is easily entertained. And he's a guy, so he doesn't have so many….restrictions," Nikki said.

"Oh, right," Misha said, understanding what Nikki meant. "So I guess you haven't found a nice Indian boy at that school, eh?"

"At _Hogwarts_?" Nikki asked her cousin incredulously. "No nice boys period, let alone Indian."

"Listen," Misha said in a more hushed voice as she moved a bit closer to Nikki, "I overheard our mums talking and apparently, there were a lot of ladies asking about you for their sons at my engagement party last week."

"Ew, gross," Nikki said in disgust. "I'm not interested in any of those guys. And they definitely wouldn't be interested in me."

"Why not? You do know that you're considered to be one of the prettiest girls in the whole community, right?" Misha asked.

"It's all superficial," Nikki replied hotly. "They just see my long black hair and my fair skin and think that I'm the Indian girl that every Indian boy only dreams of marrying."

"So what's wrong with that?" her cousin replied just as heatedly. "It just makes it easier for you. You can have any guy you want. Very few of us get that luxury."

"And what about the fact that I'm a…_witch_?" Nikki said in a more hushed voice. "How many nice Indian boys do you think will be okay with that?"

"Don't worry about that," Misha replied.

"How can I not—" Nikki's words were interrupted by the sound of her mother calling her from the kitchen. She reluctantly got up from her seat and trudged towards the kitchen, trying not to notice the ingratiating smiles she kept getting from all of the elders that were milling around the main floor.

"Nikki!" her mother said exasperatedly to her as she stepped into the kitchen. "What are you doing? I need your help! Take this out to the dining room." Her mother handed her a large dish and she proceeded to do as she was told, cursing her lucky cousin VJ all the way.

"Stupid boys," she muttered under her breath. "They never have to do anything."

"Nikki!" It was her mother again. "Come here for a minute. Your Auntie wants to tell you something." Nikki, with her teeth grinding together, turned around and walked towards her mother and her aunt. Nikki tried hard to return the smile that her aunt was giving her, but she had a sinking feeling that she already knew what it is her aunt was going to say. And, if it _was_ what she was thinking, she had another sinking feeling that she was going to blow something up.

"Oh, you look so pretty," her aunt said to her affectionately. "You know, I was just telling your mother that so many people were asking about you at Misha's engagement." Nikki could feel her face get warm; she didn't know if she was blushing from embarrassment or anger.

"I told them all that you were still studying though," she continued, and Nikki felt a little tinge of gratification towards her aunt, "but come time for the wedding in December, I'm going to take the inquiries more seriously." Nikki's feeling of gratification swiftly turned back into anger.

"I'm not interested in getting married," Nikki managed to say through her clenched jaw.

"You see what I mean?" Nikki's mother interjected frustratingly, "She doesn't care! I tried to talk to her so many times and this is what she always says."

"Nikki, you really need to be serious about this," her aunt said in a much calmer voice. "What are you going to do after school is finished?"

"I'm going to continue studying," Nikki replied matter-of-factly.

"Studying what?" Her mother asked angrily. "None of this hocus pocus baloney I hope! You had enough fun for six years. When this year is over, you either get married, or go to medical school."

"Med school?" Nikki asked her mother incredulously.

"Yes, it's the only profession noble enough for a woman."

"But I don't want to do that _or_ get married," Nikki said stubbornly.

"Then what do you want to do?" her aunt asked her.

"I want to…" But Nikki's voice trailed off. What _did_ she want to do? She really had no idea. All she knew was what she _didn't_ want to do, and getting married was one of them. "I'm going up to pack for tomorrow."

She slowly walked away from her mother and aunt, still able to hear her mother saying, "Look at these kids today. Her father and I let her go away for school and still she isn't grateful. What else did we not do for her?"

Nikki could feel the pangs of guilt go through her as she walked up the stairs and to her bedroom. It was true that her parents allowed her to attend a school away from home, something that was rare for girls in her community to do. She was lucky, and she knew it. But why did it have to end there? Why was she allowed to taste a bit of freedom if it was only going to be snatched away from her in the end?

She was in the middle of tossing her books and school robes into her trunk when she was startled by the sudden appearance of a tall boy with curly black hair that had way too much gel in it.

"My God, VJ!" she exclaimed. "You scared me!"

VJ laughed heartily, his dark eyes sparkling, and said, "See, this is what a summer with muggles does to us. We get frightened just by seeing someone Apparate."

"Yeah well I don't really appreciate people Apparating into my bedroom. What if I was changing or something?"

"Ah, I knew you weren't," VJ said dismissively as he took a seat on Nikki's bed. She could see the tiny silver hoop earring on his left ear reflect the light coming from her lamp on her end table.

"Show off," Nikki muttered. "Just because you passed your Apparition test this summer doesn't mean you have to do it all the time."

"Oh, you're just jealous 'cause I'm a few months older than you," he said. "So how's the party going?"

"Don't even ask, you traitor," Nikki said accusingly as she dumped some clothes onto the pile of books in her trunk.

"What?" he asked innocently. "It's not my fault that my mum let me go out and yours didn't!"

"Yeah, whatever," Nikki said dryly. "I've got a lot of packing to do so why don't you just Apparate yourself downstairs."

"Right. And give all of the old folks down there heart attacks," VJ said, now flipping through one of Nikki's magazines he found lying on her bed.

"Good, then maybe they'll all go," Nikki said sarcastically. "So where'd you go?"

"Meh," VJ shrugged, tossing the magazine aside and scratched his head absent-mindedly. He wore silver rings on both of hands, and a silver bracelet on his right wrist. "Here and there. Just chilled with some friends."

"From school?"

"No, from the neighborhood. But, I did bump into Chang at the mall."

"Anthony?" Nikki asked.

"Yeah. So get this," VJ said and Nikki moved a little closer to her cousin, sensing that he had something interesting to tell her. "He didn't get the Head Boy position."

"Really," Nikki said thoughtfully. "I thought he'd get it for sure. I wonder who it is then."

"Well, I was thinking it would either be him, Diggory, or Lupin," he said, and then added, "God forbid someone from the Slytherin house gets it."

"Yeah," Nikki agreed. "I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure Lily Evans got the Head Girl position though."

"Oh definitely. Everyone knows that already. The headmaster would be off his rocker to choose anyone else…oh, besides you of course," he said smiling wryly.

"Right," Nikki said, tossing pairs of clean socks into her trunk.

"I can't wait to go back to school. Too bad it's our last year. You must be glad we're almost done, eh?" he asked her.

"I dunno," Nikki replied with a slight frown. "I know I always complain about it, but, at the same time, I think I will miss Hogwarts when I'm done."

"Of course you will," VJ said with conviction. "You always realize that you like things when it's too late. You're too busy complaining to realize a good thing."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Nikki asked him, feeling a little offended.

"It's true!" he exclaimed. "Remember when your parents finally moved out of their old house and bought this new place? It was you who convinced your parents to move in the first place because you couldn't stand the neighborhood. And then, after you moved, all you did was talk about how you missed the old one!"

"I didn't—"

"Oh and almost every time you go shopping, and you try on some clothes or something, you don't like it at the store. But as soon as you get home, you start going on about how you should've bought it."

"That's not true," Nikki said sternly, now feeling thoroughly annoyed.

"Gimme a break, Nikki. I know you inside out. You complain about Lanie Lovegood constantly while we're at school, but I know you really like her."

"She annoys the crap out of me," Nikki threw some more of her clothes into her trunk.

"Yeah but you hang out with her all the time."

"She's one of my roommates," Nikki said defensively. "I don't have a choice."

"Right," he replied disbelievingly.

"What? I hate Severus Snape too. Does that mean I'm secretly in love with him or something?" Nikki asked shrilly.

"You better not be," VJ said in a more serious tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nikki said heatedly. "What if I am?"

"Shut up, Nikki," VJ said.

"You shut up," she snapped. "Get out of my room."

"Fine, I'm going," he said getting up and heading towards the door. "You know that once I'm gone though, you'll wish I was still here." VJ quickly stepped out the door, barely dodging a pair of sock balls that were being aimed at his face.

As the door to her room shut and Nikki was forced to look around her chaotic room in silent solitude, she let out a curse. "Dammit. I hate it when he's right."

* * *

A/N: I know I said I wasn't going to write another story, but I got writer's block from writing my novel and this idea just came into my head. I tried to do something a little different, but of course, like the other stories I wrote, there will be some familiar elements that you might recognize. I like the idea of just changing the main OC and seeing how their personalities all deal with similar situations differently. Unfortunately, I know that I won't be able to update as frequently as I did before, but I'll try my best. I hope you guys like this one. Let me know what you think of it! 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Anything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to J. K. Rowling.

CHAPTER TWO

Nikki was sitting by herself in one of the many train compartments of the Hogwarts Express the next morning, waiting for the train to start its journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She took out a book from her bag, hoping that nobody would come into her compartment and bother her. Just as she was about to start reading, the door slid open, and a girl with humungous blue eyes and long, straggly blonde hair, popped her head in.

"Nikki!" It was Lanie Lovegood, one of the girls that Nikki shared her dormitory with. Lanie's eyes were open so widely with excitement that Nikki was afraid her eyeballs were going to pop out of their sockets. She rushed into the compartment and pulled Nikki, who was still sitting in her seat, into a bone-crushing hug. "How are you? You look great, as usual. Did you have a good summer? Mine was brilliant! I went to Egypt with my brother. They had the most amazing…" Nikki was looking at Lanie, but she really wasn't listening to what she was saying. Over the years she had roomed with her, Nikki came to realize that Lanie said a lot about nothing at all and learned how to tune out her words.

After enough time had passed, Nikki decided to snap back to attention before she completely zoned out. She just caught Lanie saying, "And I just saw who the new Head Boy for this year is too!"

"Who is it?" Nikki asked her curiously. Ever since her conversation with VJ the night before, she really wanted to know who had gotten the position, especially considering that she was a Prefect and would be working with whoever it was for the rest of the year. The four male seventh year Prefects, one from each of the Houses the school was divided into, were Anthony Chang of Ravenclaw, Remus Lupin of Gryffindor, Amos Diggory of Hufflepuff, and Peter Parkinson of Slytherin. She really didn't want the Head Boy to be from Slytherin. She couldn't stand them.

Lanie looked at Nikki and said, "James Potter."

Nikki stared at Lanie with a blank expression and then repeated, "James Potter?"

"Mhm," Lanie nodded.

"Well that was unexpected," said Nikki.

"Yeah," Lanie agreed. "I was hoping it would be Remus."

"I'm sure you were," Nikki knew that Lanie had had a crush on Remus for years.

"Mmmm…Remus," Lanie said dreamily, and then shook her head. "But, I mean Potter is captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And he's really smart. And popular. And good looking."

"I guess he'd be good," Nikki shrugged indifferently and then a thought came to her mind, "Oh, isn't Lily Evans Head Girl?"

"Yes, I think she is actually," Lanie replied.

"Is Potter still madly in love with her?" she asked with a wry smile.

"So I've heard."

"This should be really interesting. I think I'm going to go to the meeting early. I don't wanna miss any of the drama!" Nikki quickly put on her school robes and headed to the Head's compartment. On her way there, another compartment door opened and she was greeted by a pale, sandy-haired boy with bright brown eyes.

"Oh, hi, Nikki," Remus Lupin said in a very friendly voice. Looking at his smiling face, Nikki understood why Lanie and other girls in the school liked him so much.

"Hello, Remus," Nikki smiled back. "How was your summer?"

"Not bad. How was yours?" he asked as they walked together to their Prefect meeting.

"Not terribly exciting," she replied. "So I heard that one of your friends is going to be our Head Boy."

"Yep," he said with a grin. "It came as quite a shock to all of us."

"Not a bad shock, I'm sure," Nikki said with a knowing smile. Remus, James, and their other two friends, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were known to be the biggest pranksters in the school, even giving themselves a name: The Marauders. "You guys will be able to get away with all sorts of things now, eh?"

"I don't know about that," Remus said. "Lily is Head Girl. It'll be hard to get anything past her."

"Yeah, that's true." Working with Lily as a Prefect for the past two years, she knew that Lily had foiled many of the Marauders' plans for pranks - except for when they were on Slytherins, of course. When they got to the Head's compartment and opened the door, the first thing Nikki could see was Lily's long mane of red hair. She was sitting at the front of the room, poring over some notes. Nikki noticed her Head Girl badge was pinned neatly on her robe.

Nikki took a seat in the back and surveyed the room for familiar faces. She saw Peter Parkinson, Narcissa Black and some younger Slytherin Prefects all seated together, looking very arrogant and haughty. Amos Diggory was seated near the front of the room, trying to look very dignified, although Nikki thought he looked rather pompous. Remus took a seat next to her and before long, Anthony Chang had entered the room and taken the seat on the other side of her.

"Does Lily know that James is Head Boy?" Nikki asked Remus quietly.

"Yeah," he replied in an equally low voice. "We bumped into her before we got onto the train. James had his badge pinned on his robes and when she saw it her face turned really red."

"Oh," Nikki said with wide eyes.

"James's face turned a bit pink as well," Remus continued, "and me and Sirius had to walk away really quickly to keep from laughing. I dunno if she said anything to him after we left." With those words, Nikki saw James enter into the compartment. His hair was the same as it always was: jet-black, and going up in all directions. Nikki watched as the bespectacled boy, who seemed to notice nobody in the room except for Lily, walk up to the front of the room and take a seat next to her. Lily acknowledged his presence and started to discuss something with him in a soft voice. Nikki noticed that James looked very serious and was unusually quiet. She glanced at Remus and saw that he was trying to suppress a smile.

"What's so funny?" Nikki whispered to him.

"He's trying too hard," Remus said with a grin, looking up at James.

* * *

"How was the meeting?" Lanie asked Nikki when she returned to her compartment. 

"Pretty uneventful," Nikki replied as she slumped down into her seat and closed her eyes.

"Was Remus there?" Lanie inquired enthusiastically.

"Mhm," Nikki mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Ooh. How did he look?"

Nikki shrugged indifferently. "Fine, I guess."

"What was he wearing?" Lanie asked.

"Er…" Nikki finally opened her eyes and looked at Lanie with some annoyance, "School robes?"

"He looks so good in those," Lanie said in her dreamy voice.

"Right," Nikki said and closed her eyes again. A few minutes later she heard the compartment door open.

"Oh, hi VJ," she heard Lanie say.

"Hey, Lanie," VJ replied and Nikki felt him plop next to her.

"So, Chang just told me that Potter is Head Boy," VJ said.

"Mhm," Nikki replied lazily.

"Well, I'm just glad it's not anyone from Slytherin or Hufflepuff. Especially Diggory. I would never hear the end of it," he said.

"So, VJ," Lanie began to say, "I heard that you were going out with Dana Abbott."

Nikki immediately opened her eyes and stared at her cousin in surprise.

"Where'd you hear that?" VJ asked Lanie, looking equally surprised.

"I have my sources," she replied vaguely.

"No, I'm not," VJ said, and then, added, "Although I wouldn't mind…"

"Yeah right," Nikki laughed. "If your mum found out that you had a girlfriend…"

"Well, there's no way she could find out unless _you_ told her now, is there?" VJ retorted.

"I guess not. But…you're not gonna ask Dana out, are you?" Nikki asked him with a repulsed look on her face.

"Dunno," VJ shrugged. "Maybe."

"Oh please," Nikki scoffed. "As if she'd say 'yes'."

"Why wouldn't she?" VJ asked, looking affronted.

"Why _would_ she?" Nikki asked back.

"Okay, Nikki," Lanie interrupted. "It's because he's your cousin that you can't tell what other girls think about VJ. Now, as an 'other' girl, _I_ can say that he's smart, good looking, funny, and the fact that he's the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain doesn't hurt either."

"Gees, Lanie," Nikki said with mild disgust. "Why don't _you_ just go out with him if you think he's so great?"

"Ha ha," Lanie said sarcastically. Her expression turned dreamy again and said, "You know that Remus is the only one for me."

"Okay then," VJ said, looking highly uncomfortable. "I think I'll be off. I'll see you guys at the Feast tonight."

* * *

After the students arrived safely at school and the Welcome Feast was over, they all started to head to their dormitories. Because the Prefects were to report back down in half an hour for a quick meeting with the Heads, Nikki had to unpack her trunk as quickly as she could. When she reached her dorm, her other roommates, Terri Boot and Marcia Belby were already inside. Lanie usually took ages to get up to her room, always bumping into someone that had some type of gossip to share. 

"Hey, Nikki," Terri, a tall, thin girl with brown curly hair said. "You have a Prefect meeting soon, right?"

"Yes," she replied, trying to organize some of her things.

"Can you do me a favour?" she asked.

"No, Nikki, don't listen to her," Marcia interjected, her chubby cheeks looking very flushed from doing a minimal amount of physical activity. She looked at Terri with disapproval and said, "She wants you to find out if Amos has a girlfriend."

"Oh," Nikki said, looking up at the two girls.

"I just wanna know," Terri said to Marcia defensively, while pushing up her glasses.

"Yeah, so that you can cry all night when you find out, right?" Marcia said sternly, her short blond hair wisping around her face. Nikki knew this conversation wasn't going to end well...or quickly.

"Yeah, okay if I find out I'll let you know," Nikki said as she swiftly escaped from the dorm, desperately trying not to burst out in laughter. She could still hear Marcia telling Terri off, asking her how she could like such a "pompous ass". Her roommates, she thought, were very comical—without meaning to be. Terri and Marcia were complete opposites. Terri was tall, and Marcia was short. Terri was thin, and Marcia was chubby. Terri was very shy, and Marcia was very outspoken. Terri was in love with Amos Diggory, and Marcia hated his guts.

As Nikki made her way to her meeting, she spotted another boy that many girls were in love with. Sirius Black, arguably the most handsome student in the entire school (and some would further argue—in the entire school's _history_), was surrounded by a group of giggling girls. She could tell he enjoyed being the center of attention, as his gray eyes continuously scrutinized the laughing creatures around him. As she passed by, she could see him run his hand through his perfectly set black hair, and laugh out loud. Nikki shook her head and kept walking by. If there was one thing she had in common with Marcia, it was that she couldn't stand girls who swooned over guys—especially bigheaded ones.

* * *

"I think Anthony Chang is sweet on you." 

"What the hell are you talking about?" Nikki asked her cousin later that night, while they were both lounging around in the almost empty Ravenclaw common room. There was a fire burning, but no heat was emanating from it. Nikki and VJ were sitting on the oversized navy blue plush couches around it, munching on some sweets. "How do you know that?"

"Well," VJ started to say, "he started to ask these me all these questions about you."

"Like what?" Nikki asked.

"Oh, this and that," VJ said airily. "But anyways, I told him that you were engaged."

"You told him WHAT?" Nikki yelled at her cousin.

"Look," VJ said sternly. "There's no need for Chang to be having weird thoughts about you."

"So you told him I was _engaged_?" she yelped. "You jackass! Everyone in the school is going to find out!"

"Good," he said. "Now at least nobody will bother me anymore about you."

"Anymore?" Nikki asked him, suddenly feeling very curious. "You mean other people have asked about me?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Like who?"

"I can't remember everyone," VJ replied, clearly not enjoying the subject as much as Nikki was.

"Have there been _that_ many?" Nikki asked. Although she had been asked out occasionally by the boys over the past few years, she had no idea that some had been trying to get to her through her cousin.

"Why do you look so surprised? I'm sure you're very aware of the fact that you are the best looking girl in our house, and one of the better looking girls in the school," he said.

"I didn't really think that…"

"Yeah well, neither did I. You look just like my sister so I just gather this information from the other guys," he said indifferently.

"But I kinda like Anthony," Nikki lied, looking at her cousin for a reaction.

"Don't be ridiculous," VJ said. "You know you can't go out with any of these guys. Your parents will kill you."

"But how will they know unless you tell them?" she asked, using his words.

"Because I _will_ tell them," he replied.

"You wouldn't." Nikki looked daggers at him.

"Wanna bet?" he said sarcastically. "These guys aren't good for you, Nikki. I know them."

Nikki felt at that moment like kicking her cousin in the face. She hated it when people talked to her a condescending manner.

"Just wait…" she said angrily. "I'll get you back for telling Chang I was engaged."

"Yeah, right. Good, one, cuz'." VJ laughed and got up. "Well, I'm going to bed. See ya."

* * *

"Oh hey, Nikki, congratulations. I heard you were engaged." 

Nikki clenched her jaw and gritted her teeth. "I am _not_ engaged."

"Oh," a very confused Remus said, "but Anthony told me that your cousin said…"

"VJ is an idiot." Nikki said tersely. It was the next morning and Nikki was making her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She was still angry with VJ, but then relaxed as a sudden realization of how to get back at her cousin crossed her mind. "Actually, he only said that because he was jealous."

"Jealous of who?" asked Remus.

"Of me," she replied matter-of-factly. "See…there was this guy who liked me over the summer…and VJ, well…I think he liked him."

"Er…" Remus said, looking extremely baffled. "You mean…"

"Yeah." Nikki nodded her head and said gravely, "VJ's gay."

* * *

A/N: I know I haven't updated in years...but I feel like I've got to make a lot of changes before I can finish the story so I'm just editing the previous chapters and reposting them. Hopefully it won't take too long before I get to Chapter 15! 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Do I have to put one for every chapter? Okay just in case...everything relating to the Harry Potter stories belongs to JKR. The other stuff's mine. 

CHAPTER THREE

At the same time that Nikki was attempting to destroy her cousin's reputation, Sirius Black was in the Great Hall trying to live up to his. The hall was packed with students for breakfast, and Sirius, sitting at a table with James and Peter, was scoping out each of the potential prospects from the female population as they entered through the doors.

"Been out with her…too young…dated her…Slytherin…dated her…dated her…too uptight…too boring…dated her…too fat…hmm, Professor McGonagall…eww, a Slytherin...too weird…dated her…too ugly, sorry had to say it, but don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing…dated her…Moony with ooh…who do we have here?" Sirius looked more attentively as he saw Nikki entering the Great Hall with Remus. Her long, silky black hair was flowing behind her, and Sirius thought that he could see a mischievous smile coming from her lips.

"It's Nikki Patil," Peter said, looking up from his food towards Remus.

"I know who it is, dimwit," Sirius replied, not tearing his gaze away from her as she took a seat at a table with the other Ravenclaw girls.

"What's this guy mesmerized by?" Remus asked James and Peter as he sat down next to Sirius, who was still looking across the hall at Nikki.

"Nikki Patil," Peter said as he stuffed a whole pancake into his mouth.

"Forget it, mate," Remus said to Sirius as he began to pile eggs onto his plate..

"What?" Sirius asked him.

"She won't go out with you," Remus said simply.

"Huh?" Sirius said, clearly baffled.

Remus put a fork full of eggs into his mouth, and after he swallowed he said, "Trust me."

"Moony _please_," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "I have asked almost every hot girl in this school out, and _none_ of them have ever said 'no'."

"Wish I could same the same thing," James muttered as he finished off his breakfast, no doubt remembering all of the times that Lily had rejected him.

"Fine," Remus said, a grin appearing on his face. "Go ask her."

"I will," Sirius said determinedly, getting up from the table.

"Good luck," said James.

"Psh," Sirius waved him off. "As if I need any."

* * *

Nikki was about to take a bite out of her toast when she heard someone clearing his throat right behind her. She turned around to see Sirius Black, the school heartthrob, smiling at her. 

"Nikki," he said in an overly masculine manner.

"Sirius," Nikki said back, raising an eyebrow at him. He shooed away a fourth year Ravenclaw sitting near her and sat down.

"You look really nice today," he said in a husky voice, eyeing her down.

Nikki frowned slightly and said dryly, "Do I."

"Yes, you do." Sirius moved a little closer to her and said, "You know what else would be nice? If you and I were to maybe meet up later tonight…to you know…hang out or something."

At this point, Nikki's frown turned into a smile and Sirius was sure that he'd be making another conquest. "You're joking, right?" Nikki said, trying not to laugh.

"I'm totally serious," Sirius said with a cocky grin.

"Okay, then let _me_ be serious for a moment as well," said Nikki, and the smile completely wiped off of her face. "If you don't get out of my face in the next two seconds, I'm going to hex you so badly, you're going to wish you were born a girl."

"What the—"

"One…two…"

Not knowing what Nikki was capable of doing, and feeling thoroughly confused, Sirius quickly got up from the table and went back to his friends, who were all trying to hide their sniggers.

"I don't understand what just happened," Sirius said as he sat down.

"You got rejected," Peter said.

"Oh," Sirius said with realization. "Is that what it is?"

"Told you," Remus said with a grin.

"Feels a bit odd," Sirius said, who now looked like he was staring off into space.

James put his arm around Sirius's shoulder and said, "Welcome to my world, my friend."

* * *

As soon as Sirius left her sight, Nikki became aware of the stares coming in her direction. Terri's mouth was wide open and Marcia was beaming. Nikki could see Lanie salivating with the thought of being eyewitness to some first rate gossip. 

"I can't believe you just did that," Terri said, her eyes as wide open as her mouth was.

"What do you mean?" Nikki asked her.

"Do you realize that it was _Sirius_ _Black_ who just asked you out?"

"Of course she does!" Marcia scolded her, not letting Nikki reply. "She's not some floozy who goes out with anyone who'll ask her!"

"That wasn't _anyone_," Terri said.

"Oh, please," Marcia said dismissively. "Guys are all alike. They all want the same thing."

"Yeah," Nikki agreed with Marcia. "Plus, Sirius asks every girl out. What's the big deal?"

"He doesn't ask everyone out," Terri said.

"Yeah, he hasn't asked any of _us_ out before," Lanie said.

"Er…" Nikki said, looking at the three homely girls sitting around her.

Marcia shook her head at Nikki and said, "Please, Nikki. Everyone knows that you're gorgeous, okay. You don't have to be so modest."

"Yeah," Lanie said. "You are pretty. Pretty _thick_ that is. I can't believe you'd give up a chance with Sirius. I would take him in a second. Well, after Remus, of course."

Nikki laughed out loud and continued to eat her breakfast, unfazed by what had just happened. "Too bad VJ wasn't here to see that," she said. "If he was, I think I would've said yes just to piss him off." At that moment, Nikki saw VJ walk into the Great Hall, with his arm draped around Dana Abbott's shoulder. Nikki's anger at his hypocrisy started to bubble up inside of her again.

"Why would VJ get pissed?" Marcia asked.

"Oh," Nikki said, glaring fiercely in his direction, "'Cause _he's_ in love with Sirius."

* * *

Nikki knew that the rumor she had started about her cousin would spread like wildfire, but she didn't care; she was too furious. It was after lunch and she was making her way down to her next class: Muggle Studies. She kept thinking about her cousin's smug look when he walked into the Great Hall with Dana Abbott. _Who does he think he is? He tells me that I can't go out with anyone, and meanwhile he goes parading around with skanky girls all over him. Maybe I should tell his mother. He knows I won't though. Even if I did, he'd tell her I was lying. She'd believe him too. Stupid mama's boy. _

Nikki's only consolation came from knowing that VJ was clueless of the fact that the whole school was discussing his sexual orientation. A small smile crept onto Nikki's face as she walked into the classroom.

"That's definitely not an innocent looking smile." Nikki looked up to see Lily already seated in the almost empty classroom, looking at her inquisitively.

"It's not," Nikki said, now smiling genuinely as she took a seat next to Lily.

"I have a feeling I'm better off not knowing," Lily laughed.

"Yeah, I think so too," said Nikki as she took out some parchment and her quill.

"So I was trying to come up with some ideas for events for this year," Lily said to Nikki. "What do you think of ball like we had last year?"

"Um…I dunno," Nikki replied uncertainly as more students started to file into the class. "To tell you the truth, I was kinda bored."

"Yeah, I know. It's not really my thing either. I just hope Potter isn't into the idea," Lily replied. On cue, James, Sirius and Peter walked noisily through the door with some giggling girls. She glared in their direction for a moment and then muttered, "Can't they ever act civilized?"

Nikki looked up at the boys as they made their way to some seats in front of her and Lily. She caught Sirius's eye for a just a moment, and the look he gave her was intense. Nikki quickly looked down, feeling like she might have detected some anger in his stormy gray eyes. But, that feeling was quickly abated, as Sirius pulled out the chair from the desk directly in front of hers and sat down. He stretched out his arms lazily and ran his hands through his black hair.

He turned his head around to Nikki and said before giving her a flirtatious wink, "Hope you enjoy the view." Nikki had the urge to burst out laughing, but, not wanting Sirius to think that she was the slightest bit amused by him, just looked at him without any apparent reaction except for a slightly raised eyebrow.

Sirius continued to look at Nikki, hoping that he'd see something in her big brown eyes or even the threat of a smile, but she wouldn't budge. Feeling slightly defeated, he turned around and wondered how his invincible charms could be failing him. He looked to his side at James and saw him scribbling a note to Lily. He could make out the words "weekend…Hogsmeade…with me…if not busy".

Sirius cleared his throat and chuckled."You're hopeless, mate," he said to James. James immediately crumpled the parchment and stuffed it into his pocket.

"I wasn't actually gonna give it to her," he grumbled.

"James," Lily, who was sitting behind him, tapped his shoulder. "Here's my list of ideas. Maybe we can discuss it during dinner tonight?"

"It's a date," James said with a grin as he took the list from her.

"What was that?" asked Lily.

"I said that's great," James replied. Sirius discreetly covered his face, attempting to stifle the laughter threatening to burst out of him.

Nikki saw the professor enter the classroom and the noisy buzz that filled the room suddenly turned silent. Everyone sat quietly listening to the professor as she explained what the course would entail, until she mentioned that there would be a group project. The students started to whisper to each other, hoping to be placed with their friends.

The professor silenced the class and said, "I don't mind you working with your friends, as long as you won't waste your time. Well, you might as well pick your groups now, so go ahead and do that for a few minutes while I do some preparations for the lesson. Oh, and there must be three people per group. No more, no less."

Lily and Nikki decided to work together and were looking around the room for someone else to join them. Nikki noticed Anthony Chang sitting near her and was about to ask him to join their group when the professor suddenly said, "Wait a minute. You two can't be in the same group."

Nikki looked up and saw the professor looking in her and Lily's direction. They looked at each other with some confusion until they realized that the professor was talking to James and Sirius.

"But Professor, we've already formed the group," James complained.

"I don't care," she said sternly. "Don't think I've forgotten what you did last year. Sirius, you can work with the two ladies behind you."

"Oh, Professor!" James said quickly. "I don't mind working with the ladies."

"I know you don't," the professor quipped. "Anthony, you can join James and Peter."

"Tough luck, Prongs," Sirius said to James with a grin. He turned around to face Nikki, who wasn't feeling too happy about the situation. Sirius could sense her disappointment and said to her with an ingratiating smile, "Looks like we'll be hanging out together after all."

* * *

A/N: Few changes in this chapter...hopefully it's a little better. Wouldn't mind any comments/suggestions... 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter One...

CHAPTER FOUR

"So what exactly is the reason as to why you don't want to go out with me?"

"Excuse me?" Nikki looked up at Sirius, who was looking at her very curiously. It was an hour before dinner that same day, and Sirius and Nikki were in the library waiting for Lily to come back from her Heads meeting to start working on their assignment for Muggle Studies.

"Why won't you go out with me?" he asked her again.

"Why would I?" Nikki asked back, putting her quill down. She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for him to answer. Sirius looked slightly puzzled at her question, as if it was something very obvious and need not be asked.

"Hey, sorry I'm late." Lily suddenly came bustling towards their table, carrying a load of books with loose parchments sticking out of them. "Did you guys start anything without me?"

"Nope," Nikki said and gave Sirius a hint of a glare. "Sirius was too busy trying to flirt with me." Lily gave Sirius a slight frown as she took a seat at their table and he shrugged back at her in acquiescence. As soon as they were about to start working, Nikki saw James, Peter and Anthony all stroll into the library. The boys spotted them and took over a table close to theirs. Anthony gave Nikki a small wave and she smiled back at him. She thought he was rather cute in a nerdy sort of way as he made his way towards her. James came to their table with a look of urgency to speak with Lily about something very unimportant that he could've told her later.

"Hey," Anthony said to her in a low voice, so only her and Sirius could hear him. "VJ told me yesterday that you got engaged over the summer. Congratulations."

Nikki, who suddenly felt tempted to punch Anthony's smiling mouth, didn't get a chance to say anything because Sirius suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my God! _That's_ why!" Lily and James stopped their conversation and started to listen to the others with interest. Sirius looked somewhat relieved and said. "Why didn't you say anything when I asked you?"

"Because," Nikki said through gritted teeth. "I am _not_ engaged."

"But VJ said…" Anthony trailed off. Everyone looked very confused.

"VJ is a jackass. Don't believe everything he says," Nikki said huffily. "Besides, who gets engaged before they're seventeen, anyways?"

"Well I just thought…" Anthony mumbled again feeling highly embarrassed, and starting to become a little afraid of Nikki, whose temper was starting to come to a boiling point.

"You thought what?" Nikki snapped at him in a hoarse whisper, too angry too even realize what she was saying. "Just 'cause I'm Indian that it's probably true? That it's not a big deal for brown girls to get married before they're even done school?" Anthony didn't move a muscle. He didn't know how a simple congratulation had come to this.

"Wait a sec," Sirius suddenly said, looking at Nikki with great perplexity, "You're Indian?"

Nikki stared at Sirius for a moment in surprise before she could feel all of the anger that had built up in her suddenly fizzle away and be replaced with a burst of laughter. Lily, James and Anthony looked at her uncertainly for a few seconds until her laughter became contagious and they couldn't help but join in. When Nikki could finally take a breath, she saw Sirius's face, which looked completely lost, and sent her into further hysterics. Nikki saw Madam Pince, the librarian, charging towards their table. She quickly got up from her seat, clutching her stomach and said as clearly as she could, "I have to go to the ladies' room. I'll be back."

As she ran out she could hear Sirius say to the others in a defensive tone, "What? She doesn't really _look_ that Indian."

* * *

"Hey, Nikki, I need to talk to you." Nikki was sitting at the Great Hall for dinner later that evening when her cousin took a seat next to her.

"What's up?" Nikki asked him as she helped herself to some mashed potatoes.

"I dunno," he said, shifting his eyes around the hall suspiciously. "Something's going on."

"What do you mean?" Nikki asked, desperately trying to act genuinely concerned.

"Well," he started to say in a low voice. "Everything was going totally fine with Dana until this afternoon. We were supposed to meet before lunch by the Great Hall. She was talking to Lanie for a while and as soon as I came towards her she just kinda acted really…weird."

"Oh?" Nikki asked.

"Yeah, I don't know what happened. She said she had to leave suddenly and she's been avoiding me ever since." VJ looked around the hall again. "Why do I feel like everyone's giving me weird looks?"

Nikki looked around the hall and did indeed notice people whispering to each other and glancing in their direction. She felt a tinge of guilt. However, she said to VJ nonchalantly, "Nobody's looking at you, VJ. It's just your imagination."

VJ looked scrupulously around the hall again. Nikki saw him gazing in Dana Abbott's direction. She was sitting very closely to Amos Diggory, giggling at everything he was saying.

"I've got to try and talk to her again," he said quietly.

A few tables down, Sirius, Remus, James and Peter were all busy stuffing as much food into their mouths as they possibly could. Lily was sitting next to James, trying not to watch them eat. Sirius took a moment to catch his breath before he would continue to inhale the rest of his plate. His eyes started to wander around the Great Hall until they rested on Nikki. She and her cousin seemed to be having a very intense conversation. Remus, who noticed Sirius looking in their direction, suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, hey," he said in a low voice to his friends. "You won't believe what Nikki told me this morning."

"Let me guess, she told you she was Indian?" Sirius said sarcastically.

"Er…" Remus said.

"Ignore him," James said. "What did she say?"

"She told me that Patil…" Remus hesitated for a moment and then whispered, "is _gay_."

All three of the boys' eyes went wide and their mouths hung open. Lily looked at them quite amusedly.

"No way," James said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I saw him with Dana Abbott this morning—and trust me, they weren't doing anything remotely gay. "

"I dunno," Sirius said, scratching his head. "He does kinda wear an earring and all those rings and stuff. And he's really picky about his clothes and his hair…"

"Diggory is like that too," James said.

"No but Diggory doesn't wear all that jewelry though," Sirius said skeptically.

"That's probably just a cultural thing," James tried to convince his friends.

"Yeah, but Nikki's his cousin. She would know, wouldn't she?" Remus said. Sirius saw that Lily looked like she was bursting to say something.

"Alright, Lily?" he said to her. "You look like you know more than we do."

"Well, I don't really like to talk about people…" she said slowly.

"Spill your beans, Evans," Sirius said to her.

"Okay well…I was told by someone, that VJ might even be in love with…" she cleared her throat, "someone." Everyone leaned in closer towards her.

"Who?" Peter asked with wide eyes.

She hesitated for a moment, eyeing the boys around the table.

"Come on, Evans," Sirius said impatiently. "We haven't got all day. Or are you trying to protect the poor poof 'cause its true?"

"Well," Lily replied, feeling a little ruffled at Sirius's comment. "I guess you'd know if it was true or not considering he's in love with _you_."

"_ME_?" he yelled, looking horrified.

"That's what I heard," Lily said quickly before James, Remus, and Peter burst out laughing.

"This isn't funny," Sirius said to his friends apprehensively. "He's in my group for Charms class! What am I going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Lily said to him. "You don't have to do anything."

"Yeah, but…" Sirius started to protest before he noticed VJ getting up from his seat and making his way towards their side of the Great Hall. "Shit!" he said frantically, grabbing some food and standing up. "I'm getting outta here!"

* * *

When Nikki met Lily and Sirius in the library after dinner, she noticed that Sirius seemed a bit distracted. He kept gazing around the room and glancing behind his shoulder.

"What's jerkin' his gherkin?" she asked Lily quietly when he went to retrieve some books from the stalls.

"Who knows," Lily said, suppressing a grin. Nikki eyed Sirius curiously as she saw him making his way back with a pile of books. She had a feeling that perhaps the rumor about VJ being in love with him had caught up to him. A small smile crept to her lips.

"Nikki," Lily said, looking at her. "You've got that evil smile on your face again. What's going on?"

"Hmm?" Nikki said innocently. "Nothing, I was just remembering something." Lily looked at Nikki in disbelief as Sirius plopped the pile of books on the table. He slumped down into his chair and started leafing through one of the books. Nikki took one of the books and pretended to read it; all the while stealing looks at Sirius. His eyebrows were creased and he had a slight frown on his face like he was concentrating really hard.

When Nikki saw a very familiar silhouette in the back of the library, and she put her book down and with a very straight face, "You know Sirius, you're really good looking."

"What?" he said, looking up from his book.

"Don't you think so, Lily?" Nikki asked Lily, giving her a small nudge from under the table.

"Yeah, definitely," Lily agreed quickly. Sirius eyed the girls with some suspicion.

"I can totally see how _anyone_ could be attracted to you," Nikki said with a sly grin and Lily bit her lip to keep from smiling.

Sirius looked at the girls with mistrust and asked, "What do you mean _anyone_?"

"I mean…" Nikki was about to say before she looked behind Sirius and said with a smile, "Oh, hey VJ."

Sirius froze, his eyes wide with unease.

"Hey," VJ said glumly as he pulled out the chair next to Sirius and plopped down into it. Sirius quickly shifted his chair over a bit to the other side, unbeknownst to VJ who started complaining, "I can't figure it out. Dana still won't talk to me. I mean, am I giving off some kind of weird vibe or something?"

Nikki shrugged with innocence.

"I think I need a drink," VJ said resolutely. He flicked Sirius on his arm and said, "Hey Black, you wanna sneak off to Hogsmeade or something and get a drink with me?"

Sirius stammered in surprise and lied, "I…uh…I don't drink."

"You don't?" Nikki asked with equal surprise, trying extremely hard to hide her growing amusement.

Sirius shook his head vigorously.

"Oh," VJ said, sounding a bit disappointed. He looked around the room restlessly and then let out a sigh. He looked like he was about to get up when he said to Sirius suddenly, "Hey, what do you use in your hair, man? I've tried so many products and I can't get my hair to be that smooth."

Nikki could see Sirius's jaw lock and he said, "Nothing."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll leave you guys to it then," VJ said, too engrossed in his own problems to notice Sirius's awkwardness. Much to Sirius's relief, VJ stood up from his chair to leave. Before going however, he said to Sirius with a grin, "Hey we've got a match next week, eh. You better watch out, I've been practicing some new moves. I'll be on top of you the whole game."

"Okay that's it!" Sirius exclaimed getting up from his seat abruptly. He looked at VJ and said agitatedly, "Listen, Patil, I'm sorry but I just don't swing that way." He turned around and rushed out of the library.

VJ looked at his cousin completely mystified and asked, "What the hell was that all about?"

* * *

A/N: I'm trying to post these as fast as I can...reviewing will help me post even faster!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: see previous chapter

CHAPTER FIVE

Although Nikki got away with brushing off Sirius's comments to VJ in the library the night before, she wasn't as lucky the next evening. She had just entered the Great Hall for dinner and was about to head towards the table where Lanie, Terri, and Marcia were seated, when she saw VJ storming towards her.

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

"I just found out that somebody's been spreading some gossip about me," said VJ, looking very agitated.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, trying her very best to look genuinely concerned.

"Dana just told me why she was avoiding me," he said.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," replied VJ. "She didn't say exactly what it was, but she said someone had informed her that I had some kind of deep dark secret."

"No way," Nikki said with wide eyes. She was a very good actor.

"Can you believe it?" he asked. "Who the hell is saying stuff about me?"

"No clue." Nikki shook her head.

"Well, I'm gonna find out who said what, and they are going to pay. Dearly. Let me know if you hear anything as well," he said and left to go sit with Dana.

Nikki gulped anxiously and walked towards the table that her roommates were seated at and sat down to eat with them. It wasn't until about halfway through dinner that Nikki noticed that Lanie was unusually quiet.

"Hey," Nikki said to her. "What's wrong?" Lanie just sighed and continued poking a fork at her untouched plate.

"What happened?" Nikki asked, looking at Terri and Marcia.

"Well," Marcia said, giving Lanie a sympathetic glance, "it's about Remus."

"What about him?" Nikki asked. She peered across the hall and saw him sitting with James, Peter—and a girl. "Oh."

"Yeah," Terri said. "He's going out with Violet Brown."

"How did that happen?" she asked, still looking in their direction.

"Well, they're both in Gryffindor," Marcia conjectured. "And she's pretty, I guess."

"Hmm. Yeah she's sorta nice," Nikki had to admit. "I could see that happening."

"You guys aren't making me feel any better," Lanie sulked, finally saying something.

"Sorry Lanie," Marcia said, although she didn't sound very apologetic. "But come on...there are other guys in this school besides Remus."

"Meh," Nikki said, thinking out loud. "Not really. Remus probably is the nicest one."

Marcia kicked Nikki from under the table.

"Sorry," Nikki said, realizing what she just said.

"Well, you're only telling the truth," Lanie said, sounding resigned. "I guess I'm just destined to be alone for yet another year."

"Oh be quiet," Nikki scolded Lanie. "I hate it when girls self-pity themselves over silly boys. I'd rather be alone than with any of these morons. They're not worth our time."

"Amos is," Terri said dreamily. Nikki grimaced at her.

"What about Anthony?" Marcia suggested to Lanie. "He's a nice guy."

"Yeah he is but...he's not Remus." Lanie said with a sad sigh.

"I would've suggested VJ but he's—"

"Going out with Dana, I know," Nikki said, interrupted Marcia.

"Wait," Marcia said, looking at Nikki with a little confusion. "I thought you said he was gay."

"Oh!" Nikki exclaimed, trying to think fast. "Yeah..."

"He's going out with Dana?" Lanie asked, her sense of curiosity coming back to her.

"He's bisexual," Nikki said quickly.

"LANIE!" VJ's voice suddenly bellowed behind her. She turned around to face him. "Did you tell Dana I was _gay_?"

"Well..." Lanie said nervously, "maybe."

"Why?" he asked her, looking shocked and angry.

"I didn't know it was a secret, I swear," Lanie said defensively. "Nikki didn't tell me not to tell anyone."

"Uh oh," Nikki muttered to herself, wondering if she should jump up and make a run for it.

"Nikki?" VJ said, looking absolutely shell-shocked.

"What?" Nikki asked.

"What the hell is she talking about?" His voice was dangerously low.

"I dunno," Nikki said, eyeing the nearest exit.

"Did you tell everyone I was _gay_?" He looked at his cousin with disbelief.

"No." Nikki knew that she could probably get away by lying to VJ, but a part of her wanted him to know that she had said it. She wanted him to know that he couldn't get away with saying whatever he wanted. Besides, she wasn't afraid of him!

She looked at him a little more defiantly and said in an even voice, "I only told Remus you were gay. I told everyone else that you were in love with Sirius."

VJ looked like he just got slapped in the face and what happened the night before at the library suddenly dawned on him. And what Nikki just did dawned on her as well.

"Why you little—"

"Oh shit!" Nikki exclaimed as she leaped out of her seat. She ran through the large doors of the Great Hall, with VJ running after her, and rammed herself right into someone.

"Hey, watch where you're—"

"Sorry, I—" Nikki said frantically, realizing that she had just crashed into Sirius.

"OI!" VJ yelled, aiming his wand at her.

"AAAH!" Nikki screamed, ducking behind Sirius, as sparks flew past his head. Sirius could see sparks flying out of Nikki's wand as well, and fearing that he'd lose a precious body part being caught in the middle of this battle, he took out his wand.

"_Expelliarmus_!" he said, taking away VJ's wand and then muttered, "_Levicorpus,_" causing VJ to hang upside down in the air.

"You shouldn't attack girls, Patil," Sirius said, brushing off his robes. "I thought you were the..._gentle_ type."

"Yeah, well you would too if you knew what she did!" VJ spat out angrily, his face turning red.

"What, did she steal your conditioner or something?" he asked airily. He looked at Nikki and saw the effect he was looking for: a smile.

"Very funny! I suppose you were in on it too then!" VJ said accusingly, still hanging from his ankle.

"In on what?" Sirius asked.

"She told everyone that I was a bloody poof!" VJ yelled, unable to control his anger.

"Yeah well you shouldn't have told Anthony that I was engaged!" Nikki yelled back at him.

"Oh is this what it's about then? Chang? Why do you care so much about what he thinks?" VJ asked, and Sirius was starting to wonder the same thing.

"You jackass, it has nothing to do with Chang!" Nikki replied furiously.

"Wait a second," Sirius said, looking at Nikki. "Did _you_ tell everyone that Patil had the hots for me then?"

"What?" VJ yelped, glaring at Nikki.

"Well that was your fault too!" Nikki said to Sirius defensively.

"What did _I_ do to you?" Sirius asked.

"Oh please!" Nikki said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "You're so big-headed! You just go around asking girls out, thinking that they're all just _dying_ to go out with you."

"Well, _aren't_ they?" he asked Nikki cockily.

"What," came a completely different voice, "is going on here?" It was Professor McGonagall. "Mr. Black! Why is Mr. Patil hanging upside down with his wand in your possession?"

"We were—" Sirius was about to say something when the Professor turned to Nikki.

"Miss Patil! You're a prefect! What kind of an example are you setting?"

"But I—"

"There's no excuse for this. Let him down immediately." Sirius reversed the spell and VJ fell to the ground. He stood up and wiped himself off. Professor McGonagall looked furious. "I don't want to hear what happened. Detention, all of you. My office tomorrow night."

She turned on her heel and as soon as she was out of sight, the three of them glared at each other accusingly. VJ, who looked angriest of all, stomped away without saying a word. Nikki and Sirius were left alone in the hallway. With VJ gone, Nikki's anger subsided. She was sure, however, that Sirius would be angry with her for making him get a detention. She felt a tinge of guilt but not guilty enough to apologize. Without looking at him, she walked away in the opposite direction that her cousin went in.

Sirius was left standing alone in the hallway, wondering how he ended up getting in the middle of everything. He shrugged to himself indifferently and headed towards the Great Hall. He was starving.

* * *

The following evening, the three of them were to have detention in Professor McGonagall's classroom. By the time Sirius arrived, Nikki was already seated in one of the desks. She was slumped down in her seat, running her hands through her long, silky black hair in a bored manner.

"'Evening, Professor," Sirius said with a grin as he walked through the door. Nikki gave him a quick glance.

"Have a seat, Mr. Black. And not next to miss Patil, please." Sirius was about to sit next to her but then moved a row over and a couple of seats behind her. Sirius didn't want to sit in front of her; he wanted to make sure he could see her without having to turn his head back. A few minutes later VJ arrived.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Patil," McGonagall said sternly.

"Sorry Professor, I was in Quidditch practice," VJ apologized.

"Well, sit down and we'll get started. I want you all to write a one page essay on why abusing magic is wrong. You can't leave before an hour is over so don't think you can write something in five minutes. And I'll have to read it before I let you go." None of them wasted any time. Not wanting to stay in detention longer than an hour, they each wrote their page diligently and finished within the first half hour. Nikki was the first one to hand her paper to the Professor, followed by VJ, and then Sirius a minute later.

They sat in silence, watching the minutes pass by on the clock hanging on the wall in front of them. Nikki was starting to feel really restless and began to doodle on a spare piece of parchment, when she suddenly saw something fly onto her desk.

It was a note from Sirius saying, It said: _Do you realize we wouldn't be here if you had just agreed to go out with me that morning?_

Nikki wanted to laugh out loud with sarcasm, but she just wrote: _Very funny_. She looked up to make sure the Professor wasn't looking, and then sent the note back to Sirius safely. A few seconds later, she found the parchment near her again.

_We could've been having a great time...in the astronomy tower...alone. _

She shook her head and replied: _Right. In your dreams._

When the note came back to her again, she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing when she read: _Yes, actually I think I did have a dream about that last night._

She had just sent a reply of: _That's disgusting. Stop passing me these stupid notes_, when she heard a, "Miss Patil."

"Yes, Professor?" she replied, quickly hiding the note in her lap.

"You may go." Relief swept over Nikki and she gathered her things together. When she got up from her seat, the note fell onto the floor behind her. She bent down to pick it up and caught Sirius's eye.

He mouthed the words, "Astronomy Tower" while pointing upwards and gave her a wink and a wicked smile. Nikki shook her head and rolled her eyes in annoyance, trying hard to suppress a smile and left the classroom. After VJ was permitted to leave, the Professor looked at Sirius and said sternly, "Well, it was two days without a detention for you, Mr. Black. Now we're back down to zero. Let's see if maybe we can beat your record of…two weeks, shall we?"

"Sure thing, Professor," Sirius said with a grin as he got up to leave. "I'll see you in fifteen days."

* * *

Sirius headed toward Gryffindor Tower when he met Remus on his way.

"Prefect rounds already over?" Sirius asked his friend.

"Oh, I was just covering for Nikki while you guys were in detention. How was it?" Remus asked.

"Not that bad. McGonagall went pretty easy on us," he replied cheerfully. They walked in silence for a moment until Sirius asked, "So Nikki usually does Prefect rounds here?"

"Yeah," Remus replied. "Why?"

"Just wondering…" said Sirius casually.

"Don't," Remus suddenly said.

"Don't what?" Sirius asked.

"She's not that type of girl," Remus said.

"What type?"

"The type you usually go for," Remus said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?" Sirius said, looking at his friend like he was mental. "She's _exactly_ the type I go for: she's really hot."

"Is that all you look at?" Remus asked Sirius, shaking his head in disapproval.

"What else can I _look_ at?" Sirius retorted. "And please, don't tell me that _you_ didn't go for Violet for her looks, okay."

Remus ignored Sirius's last comment and said, "Look, Nikki is my friend. I like her. I don't want her to get hurt."

"Aw, come on," he said with a grin, lightening up the mood. "Would I hurt someone?"

"Uh...yeah, I think you would," Remus said, not returning a smile.

"That's harsh, Moony," Sirius said to his friend.

"Whatever," Remus shrugged. "You can go for her all you want. She won't go out with you."

"Sounds like a challenge," Sirius said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "We'll see how long she'll be able to resist my charms."

Knowing that it would be useless to argue with Sirius about this any more, Remus shook his head in disapproval and said, "You, my friend, are going to get yourself into some serious trouble one of these days."

* * *

A/N: I changed quite a bit from this chapter...especially the ending...the next one will probably have lots of changes too...hope it's better! send me a review and tell me if it is!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: same as before... 

CHAPTER SIX

Sirius didn't get into any 'serious trouble' until the night of the Halloween. The Fall weeks had gone by quickly and without much excitement, with the exception of some action-packed Quidditch matches. Sirius, who was a Beater on the Gryffindor team, never ceased to gloat about their close win over Ravenclaw, especially whenever Nikki was around. Nikki wasn't particularly bothered by his gloating, mostly because of the fact that she and her cousin, who was a Chaser for Ravenclaw, weren't the best of friends at the moment. Ever since the rumor incident, VJ had been very distant and cold with Nikki and she was the same with him.

She and the other Prefects were in the Great Hall, setting up for the Halloween Feast, when she remembered what had happened a few days ago while she was studying in the library. Nikki had seen VJ walk in with a sixth year Hufflepuff. Apparently, the rumor did not have any negative effect on VJ's love life; he had a new girlfriend almost every week. As soon as VJ had seen Nikki looking at him, he pulled the girl closer to him and wrapped his arm around her waist. He glared at Nikki defiantly and she looked away from him, pretending that he didn't exist.

"Whatever," Nikki muttered to herself, trying to take her mind off VJ. "He can do what he wants. I won't let it bother me." She had just charmed the last fake bat to fly around the room when Remus came up to her and asked her if she could deliver a list to James and Lily at the Head's office.

"Sure, no problem," Nikki said cheerfully as she took the list from him.

Nikki exited the Great Hall and walked down the wide corridor. She felt excited about the feast that night and couldn't wait for everyone to see the magificently decorated hall. She hummed to herself as she walked along towards the office. She only stopped humming when she saw two people standing very close to each other. She saw a mane of long blonde hair and an arm draped behind the girl's back. As soon as she saw the top of the boy's black-haired head, she immediately knew who it was. The sound of her steps coming close to them, made Sirius move away from the girl to see who it was. The girl turned around as well, and Nikki saw that it was Dana Abbott. Sirius gave Nikki a little wink of acknowledgement and Nikki smiled back in return, and kept on her way to the Head's office. She started walk a little more quickly. She was getting worried that they wouldn't have the decorations done by the time the Feast was supposed to start…

Sirius watched Nikki as she walked down the hall, her long dark hair swaying with every step that she took. It wasn't until he heard Dana clear her throat that he remembered she was even there.

"What was that?" Dana asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked her back.

"You were just checking her out," Dana replied accusingly.

"No I wasn't," he lied.

"I'm not stupid, Sirius," Dana said, looking at him shrewdly.

"I see her everyday," Sirius said nonchalantly. "I don't _need_ to check her out."

"Really," Dana said hotly. "Well maybe _I_ don't _need_ to be here right now."

Sirius shrugged indifferently. "Neither do I. If you have something more important to do, then go ahead." He turned to leave when Dana grabbed his arm.

"Wait!" she exclaimed pulling him back, and Sirius smiled to himself knowingly. Dana put a sweet smile on her face as well and said, "I was just kidding."

* * *

"Wow, this place looks amazing!" Terri marveled as she, Nikki, Marcia and Lanie entered the Great Hall. 

"Doesn't it?" Nikki said proudly. They all sat down at one of the tables, chattering excitedly.

"Hey Lanie," Nikki said, looking at her roommate with a grin. "You're looking extra cheerful today."

"Yep, I am!" Lanie said happily.

"Something happen?" Nikki asked her.

"I just found out that Remus and Violet broke up," she replied, not hiding any of her joy.

"Oh!" Nikki exclaimed, and then realized that Violet and Remus _were_ acting a bit strange earlier when they were setting up the hall. She remembered that they hadn't been working next to each other and couldn't recall them ever speaking to one another. She looked across a couple of tables and saw Remus sitting with Sirius and James, with Violet nowhere in sight. Nikki noticed that Remus, who looked extremely pale that day, didn't look too heartbroken, as he sat there laughing with his friends.

"Hey, Nik," Nikki was startled to hear her cousin's voice right behind her. She turned to face him and he said with a strained smile, "You guys did a good job in decorating the hall."

"Thanks," Nikki said, feeling a little surprised.

"My mum sent some cookies. She said to give you half," he tried to say conversationally, but Nikki could see the guilt in his eyes.

"I see," Nikki said curtly.

"Yeah but I kinda ate them all," VJ said with a sheepish grin.

Nikki broke into a smile. "That's okay. I think I'll eat enough sugar tonight to last me until the winter break." She didn't care about the cookies; they were talking again. She didn't like to admit it, but deep down inside, she felt relieved. VJ went to go sit with his friends and Nikki began to eat her dinner.

"You know, Nikki," Marcia started to tell her as she helped herself to some pumpkin pasties, "you've changed quite a bit this year."

"What do you mean?" Nikki asked, looking puzzled.

"I dunno, you seem more…happy," she replied.

"What?" Nikki said with a smile, but she knew that what Marcia said was true.

"Yeah, you never used to smile so much," Terri agreed. "It's nice."

* * *

Sirius thought Nikki had a gorgeous smile. He kept staring at her from his table, wondering what she seemed so happy about. He found himself wishing it had something to do with him, even though he knew it wasn't. 

"Stop it," Remus muttered to Sirius.

"Stop what?" Sirius asked him.

"Staring at her," Remus replied. "It's really obvious."

"Staring at who?" Lily, who was sitting across them with James, asked.

"Nikki," James answered without even having to look back.

"No, I wasn't," Sirius lied, looking back down at his food.

"Right," Remus said sarcastically. "You were drooling at her like she was a Christmas turkey."

"Ooh," Lily said with a cheeky grin. "I didn't know you had a thing for Nikki."

"I don't," said Sirius.

"That's not what Moony told me," James said to him. Sirius gave Remus a sideways glance, and continued to stuff food into his mouth.

"Can't get enough of her during our Muggle Studies meetings, eh Sirius?" Lily teased.

"He thinks he can get her to go out with him," Remus said to Lily.

"What!" Lily exclaimed. "Sirius, don't waste your time. She won't do it."

Sirius looked up at her and said, "We'll see."

Lily started to protest, "But, she's not the type of girl who'd go out--"

"Don't," James stopped her. "The more you say she won't, the more he's going to go after her."

Lily started again, "But he's not--"

"Her type?" Sirius finished for her, and then added in a mumble, "So I've been told."

* * *

Unfortunately for Nikki, she had Prefect rounds that night. She and Anthony were exhausted from the day's activities, but had to patrol the area down near the dungeons. 

About half an hour before their shift would be over, Anthony, who had overdosed on sugary treats, had to run to the washroom, leaving Nikki alone in the corridor.

She was just contemplating how cold the dungeons were when she heard voices coming from an adjacent corridor.

"Sirius?" she asked as she turned the corner and saw a familiar mane of black hair. But when the boy turned around she realized it wasn't him.

"Oh, you're his brother," Nikki said out loud, recognizing Sirius's younger brother, Regulus, who was a sixth year Slytherin. He was with another Slytherin, a burly seventh year named Evan Rosier, and they were both smoking cigarettes.

"What do you want?" Rosier asked her with contempt as smoke blew out of his mouth.

"It's after hours," Nikki replied, trying not to cough. "You're not supposed to be out here."

"Does it look like we care?" Regulus asked with a bit of attitude, taking another puff. Nikki immediately knew she was going to have to put up a fight with these guys.

"You have to leave," she said sternly.

"You think you can make us?" Rosier asked, moving a little closer to her. He dropped his cigarette on the ground and crushed it under his shoe.

"I'll certainly try," Nikki replied, keeping her voice steady.

"Listen, do yourself a favor, and get lost," Regulus said coolly. "We don't take orders from Mudbloods."

"Hey!" A voice called out behind her. "Watch your filthy mouth." Nikki half-expected it to be Anthony coming back from the washroom, but was surprised to see it was Sirius.

"Oh look," Regulus said to Rosier with a sneer. "It's my brother, the brave _blood traitor_."

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked his brother authoritatively, ignoring his comment.

"None of your business," Regulus replied shortly.

"Yeah, why don't you and your little girlfriend just run along," Rosier added.

"I'm not his girlfriend," Nikki corrected him.

"Well that's a relief," Regulus said.

"I know," Rosier agreed with him. "I was going to say it was bad enough to go out with a Mudblood, but a _paki_ Mudblood…"

The words stung Nikki so hard and fast that she could feel a bolt of hot anger ripping out of her as she instinctively reached out and slapped Rosier across the face.

They all stood around stunned for a moment until Rosier said in a low voice, taking out his wand, "You'll pay for that."

Sirius whipped his wand out and pointed it at Rosier's face. "Not before I make you pay first."

Nikki could tell that Regulus looked a little worried about what his brother was capable of doing when he was that angry. He nudged Rosier and said, "Come on, let's go." Rosier lowered his wand and reluctantly started to walk away with Regulus towards the Slytherin common room.

When they were out of sight Sirius said to Nikki, "I think Rosier had tears in his eyes…you sure gave him a good one."

"He deserved it," Nikki said, still looking very angry.

"'Course he did," Sirius agreed with her. "But can I ask why you were here by yourself? Where's Chang?"

"He went to the washroom." Nikki still had a frown on her face, but then asked Sirius, "What were _you_ doing out here?"

"Me? Oh…uh…you know," Sirius shrugged casually and said, "I was just walking around and I heard your voice so I came over."

Nikki looked at Sirius skeptically but said, "Okay…sure."

"You okay?" Sirius asked, anxious to change the subject. "You seem a bit shaken up."

"Yeah I'm alright," Nikki said, the frown returning to her face. "Just a little pissed off."

"Just try to forget it," he tried to convince her. "Trust me. It's not worth it to dwell on these guys. Don't waste your brain cells on them."

"That's the first time anyone's ever insulted me like that here in school," Nikki told him. "I mean, I remember getting teased when I was kid by these racist jerks that lived on our block, but for some reason I didn't think people here were like that."

"You'd be surprised," he said.

"I guess being a Muggle-born doesn't really help either," Nikki said, her anger turning into forlornness.

Sirius felt himself feeling sorry for Nikki, and extremely angry at his brother and his friend. "They're just jealous of you anyways because you're smarter, better-looking, and more popular than they are."

Nikki looked up at Sirius and gave him a small smile. "You're just trying to make me feel better."

"Is it working?" he asked, smiling back at her.

"A little," she shrugged.

"Good," Sirius said, and then added with a cheeky grin, "It's still true though. Especially the better-looking part. You're really beautiful."

"Okay, Sirius," Nikki laughed. "I'm fine now."

"I'm not just saying it!" Sirius exclaimed. "I mean it."

"There you are!" came an unpleasant voice to Sirius's ears. Anthony had finally found them.

"Oh, sorry!" Nikki called out to him. "We just kept walking in this direction. What took you so long anyways? It's a good thing Sirius found me, I could've been in trouble on my own."

"Why what happened?" Anthony asked when he was next to Nikki.

"Ah, long story," she replied. "I'll tell you later. Rounds are over anyways, we should head back."

"Oh well I gotta go in this direction," Sirius said, pointing to the opposite way that she was about to go.

"Oh right, Gryffindor Tower is that way," she remembered. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow in class then."

"Yep," he said as he casually ran a hand through his hair.

"Thanks for helping me out tonight," Nikki said to him earnestly. "I'm glad you were out here."

"Yeah, it was nothing," Sirius said lightly. He watched her walk away with Anthony, leaving him on his own. As he made his way towards Gryffindor Tower, he felt quite pleased with himself. He knew that coming into the dungeons just in time to help her put him in Nikki's good books. But then he also knew that an endless amount of flirting wasn't going to do him any good. It was time for a different approach, and he knew just what to do.

* * *

A/N: Okay...some changes to this chapter as well...will try to get the next one up soon. Hope it's getting better! Tell me what you think. 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Most of this stuff's JKR's...some of it's mine.

CHAPTER SEVEN

When Nikki walked into the Great Hall the next morning for breakfast, she noticed that a table full of Slytherin students were glaring at her. Regulus kept his head down, but Rosier had his eyes fixated on her. She looked back at them with defiance and continued her way to find a table. She saw Terri and Marcia seated and was about to join then when Lily waved to join her table.

"What did you do to piss those guys off?" Lily asked with wonder, looking back at the Slytherin table as Nikki took a seat next to her.

"Oh last night I caught Evan Rosier and Regulus Black smoking in the dungeons," Nikki replied.

"So what happened?"

"Well I told them to go back to their dorms, but they didn't. Then they started calling me names..." Nikki trailed off a little.

"Where was Chang?" Lily asked her, looking a little concerned.

"He was in the washroom," Nikki replied rather dryly.

"Good one," Lily said, shaking her head. "So what did you do?"

"Well I _was_ going to hex them, but then Sirius showed up from nowhere and saved the day," Nikki shrugged.

"He did?" Lily asked, looking mildly surprised. "He didn't mention anything about it last night."

"It wasn't a big deal," said Nikki. "Anyway, I don't know why he was down there in the first place."

"Maybe he was following you," Lily said.

"I highly doubt that," said Nikki.

"Well he _could've_ been," Lily suggested. "You know, he has a thing for you."

"No, he doesn't," Nikki said, waving the idea off. "He just likes to bother me."

"I dunno," Lily said, and then recalled something. "You know those guys have this map…"

"A map?"

"Yeah, I've seen it. James showed it to me one day. They made it themselves. It's actually quite brilliant," Lily explained, her eyes brightening up. "It shows where every person in the school is at all times."

"Wow," Nikki said, clearly impressed. "But I really don't think that Sirius was following me on that map. It sounds neat though. I want to see it."

"I don't think they really show it to anyone. I'm sure it'll get confiscated if any of the professors find out about it," said Lily.

"Oh," Nikki said, feeling a little disappointed.

"Well, actually," Lily started to say, a sly look coming on to her face. "Why don't you ask Sirius about it? If he shows it to you, maybe then you'll know if he really likes you or not."

"Psh," said Nikki, slumping into her seat. "In that case, I'll never see it."

Nikki looked up and saw Sirius, Remus, and James make their way to the table she and Lily were sitting at. When Sirius saw Nikki, he gave her a small nod of acknowledgement without his usual cheerful smile. As she ate her breakfast, she noticed that Sirius was talking animatedly to everyone around him—except her. In fact, he wasn't talking to her at all. Nikki wondered at his strange sudden behaviour, but didn't want him to think that _she_ noticed. _Why do I care who talks or doesn't talk to me anyways?_ She thought to herself. She did, however, in turn, talk very animatedly with everyone else at the table. She and Lily were discussing how a Prefect meeting went the other day when a pretty sixth year from Hufflepuff walked up behind Remus and Sirius. Nikki noticed how the girl leaned foward towards Sirius and giggled profusely to something he had just said.

"Who are you glaring at, Nikki?" Lily asked her. Nikki quickly looked away from Sirius.

"Nobody," Nikki replied and took a bite of some toast.

Before Lily could say anything else, Sirius called out her name.

"Can you pass the butter down here, Evans?" he asked her. Nikki couldn't help but notice that the butter dish was next to _her_, not Lily. Nikki slid the dish over to Remus, who then passed it to Sirius.

By the time Nikki had finished her breakfast, Sirius still hadn't said one word to her. She was glad when Lily was finally finished eating her breakfast so that they could head to their first class together. The longer she stayed in Sirius's presence, the more uncomfortable she was getting--and she didn't like it.

* * *

As Sirius sat in the back row of Muggle Studies class a little earlier that day, he smiled to himself. His plan so far was working; he could tell that Nikki was noticing his silence towards her. He knew that he had to talk to her now before she started to hate him. He was glad to see her walk into the classroom at that moment, alone. He kept his eyes on her, waiting to see if she'd look up at him. When she did, he kept his gaze, and pulled out the chair next to him, indicating her to sit next to him. She looked a little puzzled but made her way next to him anyways.

She sat down and took out her book and a quill. She didn't turn to him but could feel his eyes burning a hole into her head. _What is he up to?_ she wondered to herself just as Lily, James and Peter entered into the classroom, and made their way up and sat down in the seats in front of them.

Sirius pushed his chair back against the wall and leaned back in his seat comfortably, but still looking cool. Nikki finally turned towards him and saw that he was looking at her again. She couldn't help but notice—and admit to herself—how very nice he looked at that moment.

"Hey," he said to her in a low voice and she moved a little closer to him to listen. "You don't have a boyfriend, right?"

"No." Nikki thought it was a very strange question, considering he already knew the answer.

He squinted his eyes a little at her and asked, "Have you…_ever_…had a boyfriend?"

Nikki frowned at him. She didn't know where this conversation was heading, but she answered him anyways with a steady, "No."

"Haven't guys asked you out?"

"Yeah, lots of times," she answered, still frowning at him.

"So you always reject them?" he asked her. Now Nikki knew where this conversation was headed—he still wanted to know why she wouldn't go out with him.

"Yeah," she replied with a nod of her head.

Sirius looked at her very curiously and asked why.

"'Cause I don't like them," she replied very matter-of-factly.

"So all the guys that have ever asked you out...you haven't been interested in them?"

"Nope."

"Not even _one_?" Sirius looked at Nikki with disbelief.

"No," Nikki replied again, trying very hard not to smile now.

A thought seemed to cross his mind and he suddenly looked a little worried when he said, "Wait a minute...you're not..."

"No, you idiot. I'm not gay," Nikki said rolling her eyes and then muttered, "I knew I shouldn't have started that rumor."

"So then what's your problem?" he asked, now sounding a little frustrated.

"My _problem_?" Nikki asked, sounding offended. "I don't have a _problem_. I'm just not interested in any of the stupid guys that go to this school."

Sirius looked at her skeptically and said, "How can you not even like one?"

"Well, don't worry," Nikki said, started to feel annoyed with his probing. "Even if I did, it wouldn't be _you_."

"Oh, I'm not worried," he said coolly. "You're not really my type anyways."

"I know," Nikki said, feeling angry for a reason she couldn't understand. "I'm not some cheap slut who's gone out with every other guy in the school."

"Whoa," Sirius said with a smirk. "Looks like I struck a nerve there, eh?"

"Don't be stupid," Nikki said sternly, feeling a little embarrassed about her outburst. "I'm not that interested in what you think of me anyways."

"Are you sure?" He leaned in close to her and she could smell the fresh dewy scent of his cologne. He looked at her very intensely with his grey eyes and for a moment Nikki didn't know what to say. But just as quickly as she got lost into his eyes, she found her way back and tore away from his gaze.

After an uncomfortable moment, she cleared her throat and asked him, changing the subject, "How did you know I was in the dungeons last night?"

"I didn't," he answered, moving back into his seat. "I was just passing by."

"Passing by," Nikki repeated disbelievingly, "the _dungeons_?"

"Yeah," Sirius said assuredly. "I know a shortcut to the Quidditch field."

"I see," said Nikki. "So you didn't know I was patrolling down there."

"Nope," he said shaking his head. "How would I know where you were?"

"I dunno," Nikki shrugged casually. "Maybe you have some kind of magical map that tells you where everyone is."

"What?" Sirius asked, looking mildly surprised. Nikki thought she could see something flicker in his eyes. He hesitated for a moment and then said coolly, "Sounds fascinating but unfortunately I don't possess anything like that."

* * *

Nikki was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room that night, feeling very agitated. For the past hour, she had been trying to read a book. She got as far as two sentences before her mind started to wander off.

"Ugh, stop it," she moaned to herself clutching some of her hair frustratingly. She couldn't stand the fact that Sirius kept popping up in her mind. "Who cares if he didn't show me the map. It's not like I was expecting him to tell me anyways."

Nikki shook her head of these thoughts and tried to go back to her book, when VJ strolled though the common room.

"Oh, good," she said putting her book away, "someone to talk to." _And keep my mind off of Sirius_, she added to herself. He sat down on a couch and looked at his cousin. Nikki could tell he wanted to say something to her.

He cleared his throat and said slowly, "You know, I didn't say anything before, but I've noticed that you spend an awful lot of time with that Black."

"Sirius?" Nikki asked with a raised eyebrow. _Great, there's no escaping him, is there?_

"Yeah, who else," he said with a bit of attitude.

Nikki could feel her anger start to rise. "We have classes together and we're in the same group for one of them. I don't really have a choice."

"Well, I don't like the way he looks at you," VJ said.

"Oh God, here we go again," Nikki said, rolling her eyes.

"He asked you out before too, didn't he?" he said, accusingly.

"So?" Nikki said incredulously. "It's not like I said _yes_."

"Yeah you better not have," VJ muttered quietly, although Nikki heard every word.

She glared at him fiercely and said, "Okay, VJ, if you don't stop talking about this right now, I swear I'm gonna—"

"Look, I'm just telling you to watch out," he said, interrupting her. "I'm a guy. I know how we are."

"Yeah, you're all jackasses," Nikki spat.

"Exactly."

"Anyways, it's not like_ I_ like Sirius or any other guy in this school so there's nothing to worry about," she said.

"Yeah, I'm not worried about _you_ doing anything," he said as if it was obvious.

"Oh yeah?" Nikki said provokingly. "What if I _did_ do something?"

VJ, knowing what she was up to, just looked at her sternly and said, "You wouldn't."

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's been taking me forever to post chapters...I've just been really really busy. I'll try to update more often! Anyway, tell me what you all think...


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Same as always...

CHAPTER EIGHT

Nikki thought she was going mad. For two weeks she had been struggling trying not to think about Sirius, but the harder she tried, the more she thought of him. She saw him all the time, and because they had an assignment due in their Muggle Studies class, she had to spend long hours and late nights in his company. She was only thankful that Lily was usually there as well.

As she made her way to the library one evening, she recalled how the previous night she had to be alone with him for just fifteen minutes while they were waiting for Lily. They were the longest fifteen minutes of her life; she didn't think Lily was ever going to show up. Everything Sirius said or did made her feel uncomfortable. He kept moving his seat a little closer to hers, and talking to her in a low voice. She had tried to avoid looking at his face, but once she did, she couldn't look away.

_His_ _eyes_, she said to herself while walking down the corridor, _he_ _has_ _such_ _beautiful_ _eyes_. _I_ _hate_ _him_.

Nikki turned to the adjacent hall where the library entrance was, still thinking about Sirius's eyes, and bumped right into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, and the boy she had just collided with turned around. It was Regulus. Nikki expected him to say something rude back to her, but surprisingly, he didn't. He just stared at her with no expression on his face, and walked away.

"That was odd," Nikki said to herself and she entered the library. She found Lily already sitting at a table, with books and loose parchments everywhere.

"Oh good, you're here. Sirius is still at Quidditch practice," Lily said when she saw Nikki.

"Do we need to go through _all_ these books?" Nikki asked, feeling tired just looking at them.

"Well, I just grabbed anything I could find. I expect that half of them are going to be rubbish," she replied. "But listen, I got special permission from Madam Pince to work late in here tonight. I'm gonna have to leave a bit earlier though 'cause I need to do some paperwork with James for Dumbledore."

"Oh," Nikki said, feeling a little uneasy. "So, the library is going to be…empty?"

"Yep," Lily said with an enthusiastic smile. "You and Sirius can have the whole place to yourself."

"Great," Nikki muttered to herself as she took a seat at the table where she and Lily worked until Sirius finally showed up.

"'Evening, ladies," he said cheerfully as he sat down with them. He looked like he had just taken a shower; his hair was still wet and he smelled like fresh-scented soap.

"It's night," Nikki said grumpily. She wondered how he could be in such a good mood when there was so much work to be done.

"Here, these are for you," Lily said as she pushed a tall stack of books towards him, and Sirius didn't look very happy anymore. He realized very quickly that talking unnecessarily with two tired and moody girls wasn't going to do him any good so he reluctantly started working without saying a word.

Two hours of hard work later, Lily closed her book shut and said, "Alright, my part is over. I really need to meet James now."

"For what?" Sirius asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"To work on something for Professor Dumbledore," Lily said sternly. Sirius grinned and looked at Nikki, who couldn't help but grin back at him.

They both looked at Lily with grins on their faces and Lily stared back at them not looking very amused.

"You guys are annoying," she said as she handed them her part of the project and left the library.

Nikki realized that she and Sirius were alone in the dark, empty library, and she started to feel queasy. _What the hell is wrong with me? Stop it, stop it, stop it,_ she kept telling herself. _It's just Sirius—I don't even like him that much. It's just a stupid temporary physical attraction. Get a grip!_

Sirius, who was also quite conscious of their sudden privacy, stretched out in his chair and yawned lazily.

"I knew I shouldn't have eaten three servings of mashed potatoes for dinner. I'm so sleepy now." He laid his head on the table and his now dry hair fell over on Nikki's arm. She couldn't help but notice how soft it was as it slowly draped off her arm when she moved it away. Her arm had goose bumps on them and she scolded herself. How did she suddenly become so irresistibly attracted to him? Sirius put his head back up again and tried to do some more work.

When he really couldn't write anymore, he put his quill down. "Let's take a break."

"What?" Nikki protested. "But we hardly have any time."

"I know but I can't think. Let's just walk around or something at least," he said getting up from his chair.

"Okay," Nikki hesitated, "but we can't leave the library."

"Yeah, I know. Let's just take a turn through the restricted section or something," he said with a grin.

"Fine." Nikki unenthusiastically got up from her seat and proceeded to walk around the library with Sirius. They were meandering through the dark bookshelves when Nikki noticed a book on the floor.

She bent down to pick it up and when she was about to put it on the shelf, Sirius suddenly said with alarm, "Don't move."

"Why?" Nikki asked, feeling worried.

"There's a spider crawling on your cheek!"

"Oh my gosh, get it off!" Nikki yelled.

"I don't wanna touch it!" Sirius said, looking a little apprehensive.

"Sirius!" Nikki said angrily.

"Hold on," he said, and very slowly, flicked it off of her cheek. "Oh shit! It's on your neck now!"

"Aah!" Nikki screamed. "Don't let it get in my hair!" She bunched all of her hair over to one side.

"Okay wait," Sirius said as he leaned in close to her and blew spider off.

"Is it gone?" Nikki asked him, afraid to move.

"Wait…" Sirius said to her, not moving back up yet. He noticed that Nikki had goose bumps on her neck, and that her skin smelled really nice—like sweet fruity musk. He took in a deep breath and said in a very soft voice, "I see something…it's like a trail of little bugs crawling up…"

"What the hell is—EEKS!" Nikki screamed as Sirius ran his finger gently up her neck. She grabbed his arm to move it way from her and Sirius started to laugh.

"That wasn't funny!" she said, laughing nervously.

"Then why are you laughing?" he asked her with a smile.

"I'm not!" she said, still smiling, but feeling uneasy at the same time. They both stood there, not moving. Nikki became aware of the fact that she still had a hold of Sirius's arm, and then she became _very_ aware of the fact that he had a hold of hers, and that his hand was moving up very slowly. She could feel herself getting prickly again. Nikki couldn't look at Sirius. She just kept her eyes away from his face as the butterflies that were in her stomach started to flutter around wildly. _This can't be good,_ she thought to herself, but she didn't move as she felt his hand move from her arm to behind her back, and pull her closer to him.

She finally dared to look up, meeting Sirius's eyes. A voice in Nikki's head, barely audible through her loudly thumping heart, kept telling her to move away from Sirius, that she shouldn't be so close to him, that she was crazy for just standing there. She finally tore away from his hard gaze, snapping out of her frozen state and let go of Sirius's arm, just as he swiftly leaned down to her face and pressed his lips against hers. Nikki felt her face grow hot and her heart racing so fast and hard that she thought even Sirius would be able to hear it. _Oh my God_, she thought to herself, _what is he doing? What am **I** doing? Push him away, you fool._

But Nikki didn't push him away. She couldn't. Even though she knew it was wrong, she also knew that this was her first kiss—and she liked it. Her attraction to Sirius grew even stronger as his soft lips were caressing hers. Her face was cooling down but she felt her body start to get really hot as the kiss intensified. _I don't know what the hell I'm doing,_ she said to herself. _Oh my God, I think he's trying to get past my lips and into my—holy crap—what am I supposed to do?_

Sirius very softly bit her lip and Nikki let out a small gasp, which allowed him to finally get more access to her mouth. He ran one of his hands through her soft silky hair while the other one found its way under her shirt, behind her back. As he continued to kiss her a little harder now and stroked her smooth skin, he wondered how he could have resisted her for so long.

Nikki couldn't handle it anymore. She was breathing way too hard and thought her stomach was going to explode of all the butterflies it had. She pushed Sirius away from her gently, but firmly, keeping her eyes lowered. She could feel her face get hot again, and she suddenly felt ashamed of what she had just let him do.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said quietly, realizing her apparent embarrassment. When she didn't say anything he cursed himself. _Idiot_, he said, _why can't you ever control yourself?_

Nikki cleared her throat and looked at her watch. "It's getting late," she said. "We should finish up the assignment and leave." They walked back to their table, both feeling very awkward.

They sat back down in their seats, which Nikki noticed were uncomfortably close at the moment. Nikki tried to concentrate on her work, not daring to glance at Sirius. They worked for a good half hour, not saying anything or looking at each other. It wasn't until Sirius asked Nikki a question about the assignment that the silence was broken. She had to lean in a little closer to him to read the book he was asking about.

"Yeah," she said, keeping her eyes on the book. "We do need to add that bit in."

"Okay," he said. Sirius studied her face, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She didn't look angry, but she didn't look happy either.

Nikki quickly tried to steal a glance at Sirius but was caught off guard when she saw that he was looking right at her. It was the same intense stare that had her deadlocked before. Before she could think another thought, she found herself kissing Sirius again, with the same intensity that they had left off from. She knew that it if she didn't stop now, it would go further than it already had, so she pulled herself away from him.

"I think we're pretty much done," Nikki said, panting slightly, while putting her books away into her backpack.

"Right," Sirius agreed with her. He was a little relieved that she pulled away from the kiss. He didn't think he would've been able to stop himself.

Sirius walked Nikki out of the library and to the door to the Ravenclaw common room. It was a very quiet walk, except for the loud voice screaming in Nikki's head: _Holy shit! I can't believe I just made out with Sirius. I'm such an idiot! I'm just like one of those stupid floozies that fawn after him. Oh my God, he probably thinks I'm some sexually deprived horny freak and he's gonna go and tell all of his friends about this. What if everyone finds out? I'll be dead meat!_

Nikki felt angry and ashamed of herself, and she was worried about the consequences of her foolish actions.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she said to Sirius, trying to avoid his eyes, lest she be tempted by them again.

"Yeah," he said. "Uh…I hope you're not—"

"Listen," Nikki said, cutting him off, "I'm really tired and stressed out and I dunno what was going through my head tonight."

"Okay," Sirius said, looking a little puzzled.

"I mean," Nikki tried to clarify herself. "I've never done anything like that before and I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything about this. To _anyone_."

"Anyone?" Sirius repeated.

"Anyone," Nikki affirmed. "If this somehow gets around and my cousin finds out and he tells my parents, I'll be dead. And then I'd have to kill you."

Sirius contemplated for a moment and then gave her a quizzical smile and said with a wink, "Don't worry, it'll be our little secret."

* * *

A/N: Just changed a bit of the ending on this one...made it less cheesy. hehe enjoy!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Anything remotely familiar to any Harry Potter stuff isn't mine...you know whose it is.

CHAPTER NINE

Nikki woke up with a start. She looked around her dark dormitory, and saw all of her roommates, fast asleep. She looked at her clock and saw that it was only five in the morning—too early to get up yet. She laid back down into her bed, and turned on her side. Her hair fell onto her face and she took a deep breath. Her hair smelled like something—no, some_one_. Sirius. That was when she remembered her dream. She dreamt that she was with him, in a dark abandoned classroom, and they were—_Oh God,_ Nikki groaned to herself. _What has come over me? I feel disgusting. _She flung her hair out of her face. She didn't want to think about what had happened last night. _How could I be so stupid? And weak?_ She kept asking herself the same questions over and over again. It had taken her so long to fall asleep; she tossed and turned and tried to get Sirius out of her head._ I'm such an idiot. I knew what he was after...I've known it for so long! How did I just let him seduce me like that?_

Nikki felt like something wasn't right. She had been approached by guys many times—Sirius's pursuit of her was nothing new. A lot of the guys were just as charming and good looking—well, she thought, maybe not _quite_ as good looking—as Sirius, so why did she suddenly just give in?

* * *

Sirius sat on a couch in the Gryffindor common room with a lazy smile on his face as he waited for his friends to come down and head to the Great Hall for breakfast. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so good—or so pleased with himself._ I knew she'd give in to me sooner or later,_ he thought to himself satisfyingly_. Who can resist the Black charms?_

"What the hell are you so happy about?" Sirius looked up to see Remus, who had just come down the stairs, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing," Sirius replied with a grin.

"Doesn't seem like nothing the way you're smiling to yourself..." said Remus looking at Sirius with suspicion.

"Well," Sirius began to say, "let's just say I finally got something that I've wanted for quite some time."

"Why do I get the feeling that you're not talking about the latest broomstick," Remus said, a little wearily.

Sirius just grinned at his friend, not offering any more information. There was no way he was going to tell Remus what he had done; he knew he'd disapprove. Besides, he thought to himself, Nikki didn't want anyone to know and he sort of fancied the idea of keeping it a secret—it made things so much more interesting.

"Where's James?" Remus asked, looking around the common room.

"Isn't he still upstairs?" Sirius asked.

"No," Remus replied. "He wasn't there when I left. Was he there when you came down?"

"Uh..." Sirius said, trying to remember. "Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think he was..."

* * *

Nikki felt nervous as she made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She didn't know how to face Sirius after what had happened, and yet they still had to work together in class with Lily. _This is going to be so awkward,_ she thought to herself as she entered through the doors, hoping he wasn't there yet.

"Ah, shit," Nikki said out loud when she spotted him sitting with his friends and Lily. Nikki wondered where she should eat. For the last few days she had been sitting with Lily. Would it be too obvious if she didn't sit with her today? _Maybe I should just sit with Lanie, Marcia and Terri_, Nikki thought to herself. She was spared the trial of choosing for herself when she heard Lanie call her name from their table. Thankfully, she walked over to them and sat down with her roommates.

"Guess what?" Lanie said in a hushed but excited voice.

"What?" Nikki asked as she helped herself to some toast.

"Dana Abbott told me that she was downstairs at like six in the morning and she saw James and Lily together—still wearing the same clothes as the night before," Lanie said, her eyes wide.

"So?" Nikki said, pretending to be ignorant of what she was insinuating. She could feel her face suddenly get warmer—whatever Lily and James were up to, was probably nothing compared to what she had done last night with Sirius.

"What do you mean 'so'?" Lanie asked Nikki with bewilderment. "It obviously means that they were out the _whole_ night together."

"Yeah well that's not big news," Nikki said defending them. "I knew that Lily had to work with James on some reports for the Headmaster last night. It probably just took them the whole night to finish."

"Gee, Nikki," Lanie said, looking a little sullen. "You sure know how to spoil some good gossip."

Nikki shrugged to herself nonchalantly, but inside she could feel her stomach squirming. _Oh man_, she thought to herself, _if anyone ever finds out about last night, I'll be in so much trouble—I'll never hear the end of it. I hope Sirius won't tell anyone. I've got to remind him again not to say anything._

Nikki snuck a look in Sirius's direction, curious to see what he was up to. She saw him laughing loudly with his friends, looking very much like he did everyday. _Well that's not a surprise,_ Nikki thought with a slight frown on her face as she turned back around in her seat. _He does that kind of stuff all the time. Why would it be a big deal to him?_

The toast Nikki was eating suddenly started to taste like cardboard as her stomach started to go into knots and her mind started to race. _Holy shit. What the hell did I do? I don't know him that well to trust that he won't actually tell anyone. What if he already did? And what if they told someone who told someone who told…what if VJ finds out? He'll tell my parents and I'll just…die._

Nikki wanted to leave the hall. She needed to be alone. She was about to get up when a rush of owls suddenly swept through the hall, delivering the morning mail. To Nikki's surprise, one of the school owls dropped an envelope right onto her lap. Her name was on the outside in a handwriting that she didn't recognize. She opened it and a very small piece of parchment slipped out. All it said was_: I don't know why I can't get you out of my mind._

"What the hell?" Nikki murmured to herself, feeling a little confused. But then it made sense to her; it was from Sirius. She quickly stuffed the note into her pocket and proceeded to leave the hall and head to her class.

* * *

"Did something happen between you and Nikki last night?"

"What?" Sirius, who was just watching Nikki leave the Great Hall, turned to Lily who was looking at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?" He tried to look at her with as much earnestness as he could possibly muster up.

"Why didn't she sit with us today?" Lily asked him.

"How am I supposed to know? _I_ didn't do anything to her. You can go ahead and ask her," he replied. "And while we're on the subject of _last night_--"

"Oh shoot!" Lily suddenly got up from her seat. "I forgot to give the reports to Professor Dumbledore!"

* * *

Nikki seriously considered skipping her Muggle Studies class that afternoon. The knots that were in her stomach the whole morning only got tighter as the day progressed. She did not want to talk to Sirius, but she knew that if she didn't go to class, it would look very suspicious. And besides, she didn't want _him_ to know she was so affected by what they did. She decided that she would just play it cool—like nothing had happened at all.

She approached the classroom, and took a deep breath. As she let it out slowly she walked into the classroom, and spotted Lily and Sirius already sitting together close to the back of the room. She tried to keep her face expressionless, and her eyes away from Sirius's.

"Hey, you," Lily said to Nikki with a smile as she approached them. "Where've you been hiding all morning? You didn't sit with us at breakfast."

"Oh, Lanie wanted me to sit with them today," Nikki explained. She still hadn't looked at Sirius until she heard him clear his throat and she knew that she wouldn't be able to escape him. She finally looked at him, and she could see something mischievous in his eyes, but his face looked surprisingly neutral.

"I saved a seat for you," he said, moving his bag off of the chair next to his.

"Thanks," Nikki said as she sat next to him. Lily, who was sitting on the other side of Sirius started to ask her about the assignment, and of course, for Nikki to look at her, she had to sweep her eyes past Sirius constantly. She struggled to pay attention to what Lily was saying as her mind and eyes kept on wanting to focus on Sirius instead. When her eyes did wander onto Sirius's, her heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw that his were already on hers. She quickly looked back at Lily, cursing herself for being so weak. Nikki couldn't be thankful enough when the Professor finally started the lesson so that she could keep her eyes ahead of her.

Sirius, on the other hand, couldn't keep his eyes off of Nikki. He kept shifting his eyes over to the left, scrutinizing every detail on her face, and trying to figure out if she was thinking about last night as much as he was. He noticed that her cheeks were glowing more than usual, and her lips looked lusher than ever. He was itching to kiss them again.

Nikki knew that Sirius's eyes were on her, and she could feel her cheeks get warmer. She wished that the class would end early. She didn't know how much longer she'd be able to handle being in such close proximity to Sirius. Flashes of memory from the night before kept coming up in her head and it was just making her more and more uncomfortable. Nikki was in the middle of recalling the shivery current that went through her when Sirius first touched his lips with hers, when she suddenly heard loud groans and whining erupting from the class.

"What did the Professor just say?" Nikki muttered to herself.

"I thought this class was supposed to be a bird course," Sirius complained.

"Great. So that means we have to spend another night in the library," Lily lamented.

"Oh no," Nikki said, realizing that the Professor had assigned another task. Just the thought of the library brought butterflies into her stomach again.

"Hey, Lily," Sirius said to her, with a concerned look on his face. "Don't you have to work with James again tonight on those reports?" Nikki abruptly turned her face towards Sirius. He caught her eye for a split second and she could have sworn he was trying to suppress a grin.

"Oh shoot!" Lily said, and Nikki knew that she wasn't going to get any sign of assurance from her. "I do! What should I do?"

"Don't worry," Sirius said, reassuringly. "Nikki and I can handle it. Right, Nikki?"

Nikki glared at Sirius's cheeky grin and shook her head. "I dunno. It might take a while. What if we can't finish it?"

"Oh we can finish it," Sirius said sternly.

"I don't know," Nikki said, feeling sick to her stomach. She didn't want to be alone with Sirius again.

"Okay, how about this," Lily suggested, "How about if you guys aren't anywhere near done by say midnight, then you come and get me from the Head's office and I'll come and help you finish."

Sirius shrugged, "Sounds fine to me."

"I…guess," Nikki said, unenthusiastically.

"Nikki," Sirius started to say to her in a rational manner, "you know if we just use the same strategy that we used last night, we'll be just fine." Nikki looked at Sirius, not feeling very amused. His lip twitched a little and she could see him smiling through his eyes.

Nikki felt like laughing, crying, kissing him, and punching him in the face all at the same time, but instead, she just put her head down in her table, and buried her face in her arms.

"Aw, come on Nikki, it won't be that bad," Sirius said, and he patted her head soothingly, and stroked her hair. He was dying to touch her all day and finally had an excuse to do so. He looked at Lily and said, "Poor thing seems a bit stressed out, doesn't she?"

* * *

Nikki nearly threw up on her way out of the Ravenclaw common room later on that night. Not only was she nervous about working alone with Sirius again, but she had just caught her cousin making out with a sixth year on one of the couches.

"Ugh, that's disgusting," Nikki said with a grimace to VJ after he quickly pushed the girl off of him. "Don't you have any sense of propriety?"

"I don't have a reason to be _secretive_ about anything," VJ called out to her defensively as she walked out of the room. For a moment Nikki thought he suspected something about her, but then brushed it off.

When she reached the library, her face brightened up. The place was still full of students, and many of them were from Muggle Studies class, which meant that they would be staying there late as well. She saw Sirius sitting at a table, not looking _too_ happy.

"Hey," Nikki said as she took a seat across from him. "I didn't know so many people were gonna be here."

"Yeah me neither," Sirius said with a sigh. "Apparently the Professor got permission for _everyone_ to stay here late."

"Well that's good," Nikki said and cheerfully took out her books and started to work.

"Wonderful," Sirius muttered sarcastically. He begrudgingly opened his books and began writing out the assignment. He was waiting the whole day so that he could get her alone again, and was quite disappointed to find the lack of privacy in the library. He knew that Nikki wouldn't let him near her with so many people around so he gave up on the idea rather quickly. He couldn't keep his eyes down on his paper for longer than a minute before he needed to take a peek at Nikki. He thought she looked absolutely gorgeous and he had to try extremely hard not to think of what he wanted to do to her at that moment.

A couple of hours later, while a few of the groups were starting to leave, Nikki looked up at Sirius and saw him staring at her. It was that same intense stare that made her melt the other day. _Oh God_, she begged, _make him stop_.

"Are you almost done?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Okay," he said, and looked back down at his books. His hair was falling gracefully onto his face and Nikki wanted so badly to touch it. She shook her head to herself, and finished up her work. She really needed to get out of his presence. She could feel herself getting tempted again.

When they were both finally done, they packed up their bags, and headed out of the library together. Sirius, being the perfect gentleman that he was, decidedly told Nikki that he would walk her to her dormitory. As they walked together in silence, Nikki couldn't help but notice how quiet and deserted the hallways were. She didn't know why exactly, but her heart started to beat a little harder.

"What was that?" Sirius suddenly asked.

"What?" Nikki asked him back.

He put his index finger to his lips, motioning her to be quiet, and then slowly walked towards an empty classroom. He stuck his head in the room, looked around, and then waved her to come forward. Nikki didn't know what he had found but she was very curious to see what it was. As soon as she was next to him however, he grabbed her arm, pulled her into the room, and pinned her up against the wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nikki asked in an angry hoarse whisper.

"Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about last night the whole day," he said to her, holding her arms back.

"No, I haven't," she lied, looking indignant.

Sirius gave her a cocky grin and said, "You're a terrible liar."

"No, I'm not," she retorted, trying to struggle out of his grip. "Let go of me."

"Yeah, right," he said, tightening his grip. "Why else would you be trying to avoid me so much the whole day?"

"I wasn't avoiding you," Nikki said.

"Sure, you weren't," he said disbelievingly. "You won't even look me in the eye." Nikki knew he was right about that, and she didn't know what to say to defend herself. She couldn't look at him. Every time she did, she felt her insides turn into mush.

"Hey," he said to her softly. He let go of his grip on her and lifted up her chin with his hand, and gently ran his finger over her jaw line. "You're not scared of me, are you?"

"No, of course not," Nikki replied, her insides promptly turning into mush. _I'm scared of **myself**_, she thought.

He leaned in close to her, his hand now moving down her neck and whispered in her hear, "I can't take my eyes off of you." Nikki felt a shiver run down her spine as he gently kissed her cheek. _Don't_ _start_ _this_ _again_, Nikki pleaded with herself, _push him away and_ _get_ _out_. But, of course, she didn't. She stood there motionless with her eyes closed as Sirius kissed her down to her neck.

"I think," Nikki found a voice to say, "I should go."

"No, you shouldn't," Sirius said, kissing her cheek.

"This is so…_bad_," she said biting her lip nervously, and Sirius looked at her with a small smile.

"Isn't that the fun part?" he asked her. Nikki looked in his eyes and gave up, finding herself in a deep, lustful kiss. She defied the continuous scolding voice in her head and ran one of her hands through Sirius's hair; something she was dying to do for so long. Nikki noticed that she had encouraged a reaction in Sirius to kiss her harder—if that was even possible.

Nikki lost track of time, not realizing how long she and Sirius had been in the classroom together. It wasn't until they heard voices outside that they suddenly stopped kissing.

"Shit," said Nikki, her eyes slightly wide. "We should go."

Sirius wanted to protest, but he could tell from her tone that she wouldn't listen to him. They straightened themselves up and when the coast was clear, made their way out of the empty classroom and towards the Ravenclaw dormitory.

Nikki said goodnight to Sirius and was about to go inside when he suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Hey," he whispered. "Do you think you can meet me somewhere tomorrow night?"

Nikki looked at him for a moment and said quietly, "I'll think about it." He let go of her hand and she went through the portrait hole.

Sirius turned around and started to make his way to Gryffindor Tower, feeling more pleased with himself than ever.

"Well, you know what they say," he said with a self-satisfied smile. "Once you go Black, you never go back."

* * *

A/N: Hehehe...I kept this one pretty much the same.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: It's all JKR's...'cept for the stuff that's mine.

CHAPTER TEN

It was a few days before the Winter Break, and late one evening Nikki was trying to read a book as she sat comfortably on her bed, but the incessant chattering of her roommates didn't allow her to get past more than two lines.

"Don't call Amos a pompous ass!" Terri suddenly shrilled at Marcia. Nikki put her book down—she could tell that this was going to be more entertaining.

"Oh, so you're going to take his side over mine?" Marcia asked angrily, her chubby cheeks glowing hotly.

"I'm not taking any sides. I'm just saying that maybe you misunderstood him," Terri retorted.

"Right," Marcia said with sarcasm. "I suppose _anyone_ can misunderstand the words 'she reminds me of the fat stubborn gnome in my parents' garden'"?

"He never said _fat_!" Terri said defensively, and then continued before Marcia could interrupt her, "Besides, you _were_ being stubborn. You weren't listening to any of his suggestions."

"Yeah, because they were stupid!" Marcia yelled. Nikki knew this argument wasn't going to end any time soon. She was relieved when she saw Lanie stroll into the dorm.

"My goodness!" Lanie said with wide eyes. "What is going on in here? I could hear you two squabbling from outside."

"You don't want to know," Nikki said before any of the other girls could start complaining again.

"You're right," Lanie said with a smile. "I don't. I wanna stay in a good mood."

"Why what happened?" Nikki asked her.

Lanie went on the edge of Nikki's bed and then plopped back with a sigh. "I was just walking with Remus."

"Oh, God," Nikki said, rolling her eyes. "I should've known it had something to do with Remus." Lanie just sighed heavily again. Terri and Marcia had stopped speaking to each other and were now sulking in their own corners of the room.

"Remus looked a bit pale. Probably 'cause it's getting close to the full moon," Lanie said in her dreamy voice.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Nikki asked her with confusion.

"Oh, well obviously 'cause he's a werewolf," she said unaffectedly. The other three girls stared at each other for a second, and then burst out laughing.

"Man, Lanie, the things you come up with," Nikki said shaking her head.

"Fine, don't believe me. I don't care," Lanie said without sounding the least bit offended. She sighed dreamily again and said, "You know, we walked by Violet Brown, and she looked so jealous!"

"Really?" Nikki asked. "I didn't think she was the jealous type."

"Oh, please. You don't know her very well. Violet and Sirius were chatting outside the Gryffindor common room and as we walked by them, I saw Violet give Remus this look and then she moved closer to Sirius and started flirting with him and giggling."

"I see," Nikki said with a smile. Lanie got up and went to the washroom and Nikki opened her book again to read. It wasn't long before her mind started to wander off however, and she found herself thinking about Sirius. She could feel that familiar desire start to grow inside of her again. The same one that had been hitting her almost every day since the first time they kissed in the library a few weeks ago. She had been sneaking out late at night to see him a few times a week, meeting him in either an abandoned classroom or, their favorite, the restricted section of the library.

Nikki needed to find him, but before she could do that she needed to find an excuse to get out of her dorm without her roommates wondering where she was. She put her book down and thought of an idea.

"Hey, I think I'm gonna go for a run," she said to her roommates.

"A run?" Marcia asked. "Outside? It's freezing."

"It's not that cold. We're having a pretty mild winter. Anyways, if it's too cold, I'll come back inside," she said. And before anyone could suspect her of anything else she asked, "Anyone wanna come with?"

"Yeah right," Terri said sarcastically. "You can go freeze your bum off yourself."

"Alright," Nikki said as she tied up her running shoes. "I'll see you girls later."

She stepped out the door and headed out of the dorm, wondering how she was going to get a hold of Sirius. As she walked across the castle towards Gryffindor Tower, it suddenly occurred to her that this was the first time that she was taking any initiative with Sirius.

_I feel weird_, she thought to herself. _Maybe I shouldn't be doing this_. She was just walking past the portrait of the Fat Lady outside of the tower when a younger student came outside.

"Hey," Nikki said to her. "Do you know if Sirius Black is in there?"

"Um," the girl said with a bit of hesitation, "yeah he is."

"Do you think you can call him out here for a sec?" Nikki asked her.

"Er…" the girl stuttered, looking a bit scared.

"What's the matter?" Nikki asked her. "Is he doing something?"

"No, I think he was just with his friends. The older guys," the girl replied.

"So can you get him out here?"

"Um…okay fine," she replied, looking anxious.

"Thanks," Nikki said, and then looked at the girl a little skeptically. "What're you doing out here so late, anyways?"

"Nothing," she said quickly and went through the portrait hole.

"Strange kids," Nikki mumbled to herself as she waited outside.

* * *

"I'm bored," Sirius said as he was lounging around in the Gryffindor common room with James, Remus and Peter.

"You're always bored," Remus said dryly. He looked tired and his face was very pale.

"Can't wait for the winter break," said Sirius. He surveyed the room, trying to find something interesting to look at. _I should've told Nikki to meet up with me tonight, _he thought to himself glumly.

Sirius let out a bored sigh when James cleared his throat. Sirius looked up at him and James pointed next to him. Sirius looked to his side a saw a first year looking at him shyly, her face pink.

"May I help you?" he asked with an airy grin. He loved picking on the younger kids.

"There's someone calling you outside," she said quietly, her face turning redder by the second.

"Is there," he said and looked at her inquisitively. "Is it a male or a female?"

The girl looked at his grinning friends nervously and said, "A girl."

"Ah, I see," Sirius said. He smiled at the girl and said with a wink, "Is she as pretty as you?"

The girl's eyes went wide and her face turned scarlet. She quickly turned away and ran off to her friends as the boys started to laugh out loud.

"Well, I guess I'll catch you guys later," Sirius said, getting up happily, even though he had no idea who would be outside. As he exited through the portrait hole, he saw a long mane of black hair leaning against the wall and his heart skipped a beat.

"Oh, hey," he said looking surprised.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Nikki asked him wryly.

"Well…actually yeah," Sirius said truthfully.

"You busy?" she asked, stuffing her hands in her pockets. She was starting to feel a little awkward. What if he was going to meet someone else that night?

"Nope, I was just thinking about you," he said with a smile.

"Really," Nikki said disbelievingly.

"Yep," he said. "That's why I was surprised it was you calling me out here. So what's up?"

"Um…nothing," Nikki said, trying to choose her words carefully. "I was kinda…bored."

"_Bored_, eh?" Sirius said with a knowing grin.

"Yeah. _Bored_," Nikki replied, trying not to grin back.

"So," he said, taking her arm. "Let's go do something fun then."

As they made their way down the corridors, Sirius asked her, "Did you just go for a run or something?"

"No, that's what I told my roommates I was going out to do," Nikki said with a laugh.

"Ooh, nice excuse. They won't second guess why you'll be all sweaty and flushed."

Nikki smacked Sirius's arm. "I don't get that much of a work out, don't flatter yourself."

"We'll see," he replied.

* * *

The next morning Nikki found herself eating breakfast in the Great Hall with Lily, when the morning post owls came flying over them. A letter dropped onto Nikki's lap and she opened it up.

"Oh, man. Not again," she said shaking her head.

"What is it?" Lily asked her.

"I keep getting these strange notes," Nikki told her in a hushed voice. "I've gotten about five of them already. They all just say really creepy things. I thought I knew who they were from, but now I'm not so sure."

"What does that one say?" Lily asked her. Nikki handed the note to her. It read: _I think I'm going crazy. I don't know why I still can't get you out of my head._

"Weird," Lily said, handing the note back to Nikki. "So you don't know who they're from?"

"Nope," replied Nikki. "It's just giving me the creeps, knowing that someone's out there…watching me all the time." She looked around the Great Hall, trying to figure out who it could be. _Maybe it is Sirius_, she thought to herself. _He could just be pulling another one of his stupid pranks…_

"Hello ladies," said a charming voice behind them. Nikki quickly stuffed the note in her pocket as Sirius put his arms around both of their shoulders. "You two are looking exceptionally beautiful this morning."

"Whatever it is the answer's no," Lily said, and then took a bite of her French toast.

"Lily, what makes you think I need a favor?" he asked her as he took a seat next to Nikki.

She looked at him skeptically and then shook her head.

"Hey, where's Remus?" Nikki asked him.

"Being accosted by Dana Abbott," Sirius said with a grin. "Why?"

"Dana Abbott? Poor guy," said Nikki. "No I just needed to ask him if he could switch Prefect duty shifts with me tonight."

"He has duty tonight?" Sirius asked her.

"No I do," Nikki replied. "I wanted to know if he could take mine and then I'd take his next time."

"Oh…" Sirius said slowly. "Actually…I don't think he's gonna be able to."

"Why not?" Nikki asked.

"I'm pretty sure he's busy," Sirius replied.

"Doing what?" Nikki inquired.

"Don't be so nosey, Nikki," he said as he elbowed her side. "It's rude."

"What the—" Nikki was saying when she saw Remus walk into the Great Hall with Dana holding his arm. _Uh_ _oh_, she thought to herself. _Lanie isn't going to like the sight of that_.

Nikki took a peek up across the tables and saw her roommate glaring in Remus and Dana's direction. They came towards the table and sat directly across her and Sirius. Nikki noticed that Dana gave Sirius a bit of cut-eye before turning her attention back onto Remus.

"Remus," she cooed in his ear, "you look so pale today. You need to eat lots of breakfast." She started to pile food onto his plate and he gave Sirius a look. Nikki couldn't tell if Remus was angry or embarrassed.

James and Peter soon joined them and Nikki continued to eat her breakfast, noticing every now and then the glares Dana kept giving Sirius in between stuffing Remus's face with food.

* * *

"So what did you do to tick off Dana Abbott?" Nikki asked Sirius during Muggle Studies class that afternoon.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Well she kept staring daggers at you during breakfast."

"Oh," Sirius said. "She's probably pissed 'cause I didn't meet up with her a few nights ago."

"Why didn't you?" Nikki asked.

"Because I was with someone _else_," he said meaningfully.

"Oh," Nikki said remembering the night they were in an abandoned classroom down in the dungeons.

"I'm not really into her anyways," Sirius said offhandedly. _Come to think of it,_ he thought to himself, _I'm not really into anyone these days. Except for Nikki. Uh oh. That can't be a good sign._ He looked at her for a moment as she was writing something down in her notes. She caught his gaze and gave him a small smile and continued writing. Sirius looked down at his empty parchment and let out a breath. What was he going to do without her during the holidays? _Ah, I'm sure I'll find some girls to keep me company,_ he said to himself reassuringly. But another voice in his head suggested that maybe he didn't want to be with anyone else. In truth, he hadn't spent time with any other girl besides Nikki since the night they first kissed. Of course, he had led everyone else to believe that he had…

"Oh, hey," he leaned close to her and said in a whisper, "before I forget, I'm gonna be busy tonight."

"Okay," Nikki said lightly. "That's fine. I've got Prefect duty and some assignments to do anyways." Nikki went back to her work, but for some reason she felt like there was something going on with him. _Is going to see someone tonight? Not like I care_, she thought to herself. _He can tell me straight out if he does. There's no need to be secretive about it…_

* * *

Nikki and Anthony were patrolling the area around the library that night during their Prefect duty, when Lily strolled by them.

"Hey guys," she said. Nikki noticed that she looked a bit tense.

"Everything okay?" Nikki asked her.

"What?" she said distractedly. "Oh, yeah. Fine. Just a bit tired. Anyways, I gotta go. See you later." She walked away, cracking her knuckles.

"She looked stressed about something," Anthony said, looking in her direction.

"Yeah, well she's got a lot to be stressed about," said Nikki. "Probably just got too much to do."

The rest of their duty went by uneventfully, and Nikki was relieved when it was time to go. Anthony headed back to the dorm, but Nikki decided to look for Lily instead. She had a feeling something wasn't right, but didn't want to say anything in front of Anthony before.

She decided to check out the Head's office first, and sure enough, Lily was sitting inside, with a book propped up in front of her, but she wasn't reading. Her eyes were focused over the book, obviously thinking about something that was troubling her.

"Hey, Lily," Nikki said and Lily turned to her.

"Done your rounds?" she asked with a weary smile.

"Yeah," Nikki replied. "Is everything okay? You don't look so good."

"Yeah, I'm alright," Lily said with a tired sigh. "Maybe just stressed out. Too much work to do."

"Hm," Nikki said, looking at the pile of books on the table. "Where's James?"

"I think he's with Sirius, Remus and Peter," Lily replied, looking through one of her books.

"Oh, they're all together?" Nikki asked. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt a little more relaxed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Lily said, still looking down at her book.

"Wonder what they're up to," Nikki said curiously. "Can't be anything good, eh?"

"Who knows," Lily said, sounding stressed again.

Nikki, who was trying to make light of the situation, felt that she was unintentionally making Lily more stressed out and decided to leave.

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow," Nikki said, feeling awkward. "Good night."

* * *

The next day, Remus didn't come down to any classes. When Nikki asked his friends where he was during lunch, they just replied that he wasn't feeling well and slept in.

"But it's the last day of school before the break!" she protested. "How can he miss it? He must be really sick."

"Why are you so concerned?" Sirius asked her.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Nikki asked him back. Then she smiled and said in a sarcastic tone, "Why are you being so defensive anyways? You guys aren't hiding the fact that Remus has lycanthropy are you?"

James who was drinking pumpkin juice, nearly choked and the boys and Lily all looked at Nikki.

"What?" she asked them, wondering why they were all staring at her. "I was just kidding. Lanie was trying to convince us the other day that Remus was a werewolf. That girl's got some crazy theories."

"Yeah, that's pretty crazy," James said in agreement.

"Nutso," Sirius said with a grin.

"Yeah," Nikki said, taking a bite of her food. "But why did you all look so bloody offended? It's not like I said Remus was some kind of ogre or something. Werewolves are people too you know. They're not all bad. You guys shouldn't be prejudiced against them. Sometimes you can't even tell if someone is one or not. There might be someone at this school who's a werewolf. _I_ might be a werewolf—"

"Nikki," Sirius said, interrupting her tirade. "Can you please shut up? We're not prejudiced against werewolves, don't worry."

"Good," Nikki said. Sirius looked at her and felt something inside of him swell up. He wished he could just kiss her right then and there.

Everyone around them was involved in their own conversations so he said to her very quietly, "I found this neat room last night. You think I'd be able to show it to you tonight?"

"Mhm," she nodded her head.

* * *

"Ow," Sirius winced.

"What was that?" Nikki asked him. It was later that night and Sirius had taken Nikki to the special room he had wanted to show her. It wasn't as neat as Nikki thought it would be, but she didn't really care. It was well hidden, and she wasn't the least bit afraid of anyone else ever finding it. Nikki was sitting on the wide window ledge and Sirius was standing in front of her. They were doing what they always did every time they met at night, and Nikki had just felt something on the top of Sirius's stomach.

"It's nothing," Sirius replied. "Just a scratch."

"How'd you get it?" Nikki asked. She pulled his shirt up to take a look at it. "Ew. It's huge! What did you do?"

"Last night I was outside and I just scraped it against something," he said nonchalantly.

"Looks like a claw mark," Nikki said, inspecting his scratch.

"It's not," he said, pulling his shirt down abruptly.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not too much," he answered. "Only when I touch it."

"You should put something on it," she said.

"Yeah, don't worry it's fine," Sirius said waving it off.

"I'm not worried," said Nikki. "Just make sure it doesn't get infected or anything."

"Why, Nikki," Sirius said with a furtive grin as he leaned into her. "You actually seem concerned about my well-being."

"Not really," Nikki said with a smile. "It's more for my well-being. I'd be _bored_ all the time if something happened to you."

* * *

Sirius walked Nikki to the Ravenclaw dormitory a little later that night. He knew that it was going to be a few weeks before he'd see her again, and it made him feel…something. He wasn't exactly sure.

"So, this is it I guess," he said when they arrived in front of the portrait hole.

"Yeah," Nikki said. "You doing anything for the holidays?"

"I'm going to be at the Potters'," he replied. "What about you?"

"Well, VJ's sister's getting married. So I think we're going to be super busy with that."

"Oh that sounds like fun," he said with a smile.

"Not really," Nikki said smiling back.

"Okay, then," he said. He took a quick look around the area to make sure no one was around, and he kissed Nikki one last time. He could feel his heart gently pounding in his chest, and he reluctantly let go of her.

"Take care of yourself, Nikki," he said. He gave her a small peck on the cheek and walked away, his heart feeling heavy.

Nikki walked into the common room, feeling a little odd. She wasn't expecting Sirius to say good-bye to her like that. He was actually…sweet.

"Hey, where've you been?" A voice said, breaking her thoughts about Sirius. VJ was standing in the middle of the common room, looking worried.

"Just walking around," Nikki replied. "Why?"

"I've been waiting here for you for so long," he said.

"What's up?" she asked him. She was standing in front of him now. Her hair was caught in her jacket zipper so she started to pull it out.

"Oh, nothing. I was just gonna remind you to—what is that?" he asked her looking at her as she was smoothing her hair out.

"What?" she asked, looking at him with confusion.

"That mark on your neck," he said, staring at it.

"What mark?" She tried to look down to where he was staring.

"It looks like…" he was saying, until his eyes widened. "Nikki, is that a _hickey_?"

"A _what_?" Nikki suddenly felt her hands go cold and her stomach plummet to the ground. She had to think fast.

"Why is there a hickey on your neck?" he asked her in a low voice.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Nikki asked angrily. The only way she knew she'd have a chance of covering this up was to get deeply offended and angry at VJ. "I don't have a hickey, you jackass."

"Where did you say you were again?" he asked her.

"Okay, I don't need to hear this from you," Nikki said, feeling scared out of her wits. "Just wait until we get home tomorrow. I'm going to tell your mum what you've been saying about me. And what _you've_ been up to yourself!" She stormed off, heading up towards the girls' dormitory, her hands shaking.

"Oi!" VJ called behind her. "Nikki, I was just kidding! I know it's not a hickey. Come back for a second! I was joking...you probably don't even know what a hickey is!"

Nikki decided not to turn around, and kept going until she reached her dorm. It was better that VJ still thought that she was deeply upset about what he had said. When she walked through the door, she was glad to see that everyone was asleep. She went straight to the washroom and closed the door quietly. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the dark mark on her neck.

"Damn, that was close," she said to herself, letting out a breath of relief. "But I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

* * *

A/N: Enjoy.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Most of the stuff's JKR's.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Sirius sighed heavily as he plonked onto one of the large comfortable sofas in the Potters' living room. He and James had just spent the afternoon at Diagon Alley, where they had been scoping out the new Quidditch merchandise available on the market. Even though they had been going there almost every day since the holidays started, they never seemed to get bored. There was always a new store to discover, or some interesting people to meet. If they weren't at Diagon Alley, they were in the Potter's backyard playing Quidditch or doing what they loved most: eating. Sirius was glad to spend every waking hour with James—it kept his mind occupied. Lately he had found that when he would let his mind wander off for just a moment, or when he'd close his eyes to sleep at night, his chest would start to feel a little unsettled and anxious. He knew why he might be feeling that way, and he kept trying to brush it off.

"She's just a girl," he scolded himself.

"Something wrong?" James asked him, noticing the far away look on his friend's face.

"What?" Sirius asked, forgetting where he was for a moment. "Nah, I was just thinking."

"About?"

"I think..." he started to say slowly, "I'm gonna get my own place after school's done."

James could tell that that wasn't what Sirius was just thinking about. "You know there's more than enough space here and my parents would love for you to stay."

"Yeah, I know that. But I'm going to have to get out on my own sooner or later anyways, so I might as well get something now while I have the money," Sirius said, sounding wiser than he felt.

"Are you sure you have enough?" James asked him.

"Yep," he replied. "Poor Uncle Alphard left me enough for me to be comfortable for quite some time."

"So what's bothering you then?"

"Nothing, _really_," said Sirius.

"So there is _something_," James said, looking at his friend curiously.

Sirius was about to deny it, but then hesitated for a moment. It occurred to him that maybe getting what was on his mind off of his chest would do him some good. And if he was going to tell anyone, it wouldn't be anyone but James.

"I think," he started to say cautiously, "I like someone more than I'd like to."

"A girl?"

"Obviously."

"So what's the problem?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated," Sirius began. "See…okay, we've been secretly meeting up and just fooling around and stuff. It wasn't supposed to be anything serious. Just a…you know, _physical_ type of relationship—no strings attached."

"Where do you _find_ these girls?" James asked with wide eyes, fascinated.

"What girls?" came a voice from someone who had just walked into the room.

"Hey, Moony!" James exclaimed, getting up to greet Remus. "You made it!"

"Yeah," he said, clearly happy to be with his friends again. He sat down next to Sirius on the couch. "So what're we talking about?"

"Nothing," Sirius said quickly before James could say anything. Remus was the last person he wanted to know about his relationship with Nikki. He got up from his seat. "Come on, let's go get ready or we'll be late."

"I just got here," Remus said, looking a little confused. "How can we be late for a club anyways?"

* * *

"Oh, Nikki, you look beautiful!" Mrs. Patil beamed.

"I feel like a peacock," Nikki said grumpily.

"Yes!" Her mother agreed with her. "You look like a beautiful peacock!"

"Lovely," Nikki said sarcastically, although when she looked at herself in the mirror, she had to admit to herself that she did look pretty damn hot.

"Your make-up and hair looks very nice. I'm glad you went to the salon to get it done. All the boys and their mothers are going to be looking at you," her mother continued to gush.

"Oh, God," Nikki said, rolling her eyes. "Now I feel like changing,"

"Don't be silly!" Her mother scolded her, and then said with a sigh, "It's too bad you can't wear this _lenga_ at the wedding ceremony tomorrow. It's so much more beautiful than the pink sari your Auntie got you."

"Well, Misha wanted all of us bridesmaids to wear the same outfit so Auntie had to get them all. You couldn't expect her to get something too nice for all of us. She already had to spend so much money on the wedding and Misha's dowry," Nikki said to her mother, just as her father entered her bedroom.

"Oho! Is this my little Nikki? She looks so grown up! You look almost as beautiful as your mother did—I mean, _does_," he said looking at his wife. "I can't believe these kids are already getting married. When did we get so old?"

"Speak for yourself, I'm still young," Mrs. Patil said, fixing her hair in the mirror.

"Of course you are," he said, giving Nikki a wink.

"But, pretty soon it's going to be Nikki's turn too," she said, now fussing about with Nikki's hair. Nikki could feel the pit of her stomach sink a little.

"Oh, there's plenty of time for Nikki," Mr. Patil said waving his wife off.

"Not really," she retorted. "We have to find someone good now before they are all taken. There aren't that many nice Indian boys who are doctors, you know." Nikki's dad rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Let's go," he said ushering them out of the room. "We have to be there early to greet the guests."

* * *

"Oi, VJ!" said a plump, jolly-looking man with a thick Indian accent. "Are these friends of yours?"

"Er—yeah, they're from school dad," VJ replied to his father. He had been putting the last of the carnation garlands he had just picked up from the flower shop into the trunk of the family car when he had bumped into Sirius, Remus, and James, who were on their way to a club that was just across the street.

"From school?" he asked excitedly. "Did you invite them to the _Sangeet_?"

"Oh," VJ said, looking a little embarrassed and Sirius could tell that he was being put on the spot. "Yeah, why don't you lot come?"

"What? Oh, no. We couldn't impose. We're not dressed for a wedding," James said politely.

"Oh, don't be silly!" Mr. Patil said with a friendly smack on James's back, which nearly sent him flying. "It's not the wedding. It's just a party. Everyone can come! Where were you going? To the club?"

"Sort of," Remus said uncomfortably, bracing himself for a smack as well.

But Mr. Patil just started to shake his head and wag his finger disapprovingly. "I know these clubs. They're so expensive and lots of weird people go there. Come to the party. There will be plenty of food, and good music. And all for free! So no more discussion! You boys must come!"

"Oh, well, I really don't—"

"I won't take no for an answer!" he said, cutting James off. He smiled at them and led them to his car. The reluctant boys followed Mr. Patil, and Sirius could hear VJ muttering something to himself. He felt a sudden jolt in his stomach as he realized that he would get to see Nikki again.

"Sorry, about this guys," VJ said to them quietly. "He can be a bit—er…imposing sometimes. You lot can just Apparate back when we get there."

"No worries, mate," Sirius said with a grin.

* * *

For the fourth time that night, Nikki had found herself talking to some boy that her aunt had wanted her to meet.

"I don't think I would ever be able to live anywhere without my mum," the boy said, looking adoringly across the hall to where his mother was sitting.

"That's...nice," Nikki said, barely registering what he was saying. She had tuned him out after the first time he had mentioned his mother and her infinite wisdom on cooking the perfect _chapati_. Nikki's eyes were surveying the hall, trying to find an excuse to leave when it came to her.

"What the hell...?" she said, looking across to the hall entrance. She had just seen VJ, her uncle and three very familiar faces all walk through carrying boxes of flowers. She walked past the boy she was with, forgetting he was even there, and headed towards the doors, mouth slightly open in surprise.

"Oh, hi, Nikki!" James said cheerfully.

Sirius, who was standing next to him, couldn't say anything. His jaw was completely locked. He couldn't believe how extraordinarily beautiful Nikki looked just then. The front of her hair was up and the rest of it was down in loose curls, falling gracefully onto her bare arms. She was wearing a short turquoise tunic with colorful embroidery along the seams of it. Her long flowing skirt was also turquoise at the top but blended into lime green at the bottom, with the same embroidery as the tunic going around it. She had a long matching scarf draped around her arms gracefully, with her wrists enclosed in colorful bracelets.

"What're you guys doing here?" Nikki asked them, still looking taken aback at the sight of them.

"We were invited," Remus said simply.

"By who?" she asked, looking curiously at her cousin who was taking the boxes from the others. She didn't think VJ was that friendly with the Gryffindor boys.

"Mr. Patil," James answered. "He insisted that we come after we bumped into them outside the flower shop."

"What were you guys doing at a flower shop? You guys are dressed for a club," she said looking at their outfits. She noticed that Sirius, who was oddly quiet, looked very becoming in his Muggle clothing.

"Yeah that's where we were going. It was across the street from the flower shop." James explained.

"I see," said Nikki. "Well, they're gonna have dancing here too pretty soon."

"So are there any hot available girls here?" Remus asked, checking out the hall. "Besides you of course."

"Yeah," Nikki laughed, blushing a little. "There are actually." She noticed Sirius looking at her and gave him a smile; she was glad to see him. She was about to say something when she heard her aunt calling for her.

"I'll be back," she said to him and turned around to go see her aunt.

"Nikki," Mrs. Patil said to her looking across the hall. "Who are those boys?"

"Oh," she replied. "They're just some guys from school."

"Oh, okay. Must be VJ's friends," she said without thinking twice. She glanced at them again and said, "They're very handsome."

"Very," Nikki said, a little dryly.

Her aunt was still looking at the boys when she said, "That one in the black shirt, he's _very_ nice looking. Too bad he's not Indian."

"Right." Nikki clenched her jaw. Listening to her aunt talking about how handsome Sirius was, was making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Okay, come now," Mrs. Patil said abruptly. "You have to meet someone else."

"Oh _please_, not anyone else. This is getting ridiculous," Nikki whined.

"It won't take long," she said, taking Nikki's hand.

From the other side of the hall, Sirius watched Nikki being led away by her aunt towards some guy.

"My mum's on a mission," VJ said to Sirius, who gathered he had been caught looking at his cousin.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked him.

"She's trying to hook Nikki up with someone. She said she wants to have her engaged by the time school's done."

"She doesn't look too happy about it," Sirius said.

"Nah, Nikki doesn't care," VJ said off-handedly. "I've known her my whole life. If she was _really_ against it, she wouldn't have come to the party at all." Sirius looked at VJ curiously. He couldn't tell if he was being honest or if he suspected that there was something going on between Sirius and his cousin and was trying to scare him off.

"Boys, come and eat!" Mr. Patil suddenly said to them. "We have an open buffet, so just come and help yourselves. And don't worry about the food being spicy. It's very mild!" Sirius was forced to end the conversation with VJ, but what he said kept replaying in his mind.

* * *

"I need water," James said hoarsely, beads of sweat dripping down his face.

"Wimp," Sirius scoffed. "Can't handle his chillies."

"It's seriously not spicy, Prongs," Remus said taking a bit out of his food.

"Maybe I ate a whole chili or something," James said coughing, his face starting to turn red.

"Okay, I'll get you some water," Sirius said, getting up from his seat. He walked over to the bar where they were serving cold drinks and saw Nikki at the counter, getting some sodas.

"Hey," she said with a smile. "You guys bored yet?"

"Nope," he replied. "As long as you're here to look at, I'll never get bored."

"Ha ha. Food hot?" she asked, noticing the jug of water he was taking.

"No," Sirius said. "Water's for James. Which reminds me, he's going to sweat to death if I don't give it to him right now."

"Okay, well when you guys are done, I want to introduce you all to my cousin," Nikki said.

"Sure," he said, and headed back to his table. When the boys were just about finished eating, Nikki came up to them, with a girl dressed in a yellow sari. Sirius could definitely see the family resemblance, although he secretly felt that Nikki was still the prettier one.

"Hey guys, this is my cousin Misha, the bride," Nikki said to the boys. She turned to her cousin and said, "These are some guys that go to school with me. This is Sirius, James, and--"

"Remus!" Misha exclaimed.

"You guys know each other?" Nikki asked them, looking very confused.

"Oh...er...I think we met last summer," Remus said, now remembering where he had met Misha before.

"Where?" Nikki asked again.

"Oh, just at some...party," Misha said, giving Remus a cautious look. Nikki, unsatisfied with that answer, wanted to ask more questions, but was interrupted by VJ who came running towards her.

"Your mum's calling you," he said.

"Now what?" she asked grumpily. Sirius watched her walk away, and yet again, get introduced to another guy. _Shit, she's going to be married by the time this party's over,_ he lamented to himself. _I gotta talk to her…_

* * *

Sirius watched her as she talked to a tall, handsome boy who seemed to be very charming by the way that Nikki was actually engaged in a conversation with him. Sirius could see her smile from where he was sitting, and he didn't like it. Was VJ telling the truth? What if she really did get engaged? Did it matter? Sirius asked himself. He didn't get a chance to answer the question. He saw Nikki and the boy part ways and he immediately got up to go and talk to her before she got called away again.

"Hey," he said to her, not wanting to waste any time. "Listen, we're probably gonna head out now, but can I see you later tonight?"

"Where?" she asked, looking around her to make sure nobody was listening.

"Anywhere," he said resolutely.

"How?" she asked him. "I can't disappear from the party and once I get home I can't leave my house."

Sirius thought for a moment and then asked, "You don't share a bedroom with anyone do you?"

"You can't to come to my house," Nikki said with wide eyes.

"Do you?" he asked her again, ignoring what she just said.

"No but, are you crazy?" she asked him.

"A little," he said with a grin.

"No, no, no," she said, shaking her head. "That's not going to happen."

"No one will know," he said softly, moving towards her.

"_I'll_ know," she said stubbornly.

"So?"

"I can't. You don't even know where my house is."

"I can find that out easily, don't worry," he said airily.

"Nikki!" her mother was calling her again. "Come here! We have to take pictures."

"I'll see you later, Nikki," Sirius said with a smile.

"Yeah," she said. "_Next_ _week_. At _school_."

"Right," Sirius said, watching her walk away from him for the last time.

"Why does that boy keep talking to you?" Mrs. Patil asked her daughter.

"He's my friend, Mum," Nikki replied.

"You shouldn't have too many friends who are boys," she said.

"Oh, God," Nikki sighed, rolling her eyes. "I don't. Look he's in my class. We were talking about an assignment that's due after the break, okay?" Nikki hated lying to her mother, but she knew she'd never hear the end of it if she didn't.

"Okay, okay," she said, brushing it off. "I'm just making sure."

* * *

When Nikki finally got home that night, she exhaustedly trudged her way up to her bedroom.

_The wedding's not for two days and I'm sick of it already_, she mumbled to herself as she shut her door. She looked longingly at her comfortable bed and was tempted to just flop back into it, but decided to change out of her heavy clothes. She found a pair of comfortable fleece track pants and a clean white t-shirt and put them on and climbed into bed—too tired to even wash her face.

She closed her eyes and started to drift off into sleep, various seeing scenes from the night being played out in her mind…

Nikki got up with a start and looked around her room. She could've sworn she heard a noise—the sound of something tapping her window.

She moved her curtains to the side and peered out the glass. When she didn't see anything, she closed her curtains again and was about to go back into her bed when she heard a loud muffled sound coming from her closet.

"Oh, son of a—where the hell am I?" A frustrated voice said in a hoarse whisper. Recognizing it, she opened her closet door and out came Sirius with a pink shirt on his head.

"What are you doing here?" Nikki asked him in a frantic whisper, pulling the shirt off of his head.

"I came to see you," he said matter-of-factly.

"I told you not to come!" she exclaimed, still whispering. "What if my parents hear you? I'll be turned into shish kebab!"

"Mmm…that would be good. I'm hungry," he said with a smile.

"Get out," Nikki said, pointing to her window.

"Your parents are asleep, don't worry," Sirius said.

"How do you know?" she asked him.

"'Cause I tapped on every window on the second floor and you're the only one who looked out."

"Oh," she said. "How did you do that, by the way?"

"Was on my broomstick wearing James's invisibility cloak," he said. He walked up to her door, and muttered something with his wand pointed at it.

"So where's your broom then?" she asked him.

"I left it outside in that bush in your garden." He turned around and looked around her room.

Nikki looked at the mess in her closet. "Looks like you need to practice your Apparating skills."

"At least I passed my test," he said defensively.

"Whatever," said Nikki. "You really shouldn't be here."

"I know," Sirius sighed. "It's bad, isn't it."

"Mhm." Nikki said as she stuffed the last of her clothes back into her closet.

"Nice room, by the way," he said.

"Thanks."

"Ooh, is that you?" Sirius said, looking at a picture in a frame on her desk.

"Yeah."

"Cute. Not as cute as me, of course," he said with a grin.

"Of course," Nikki agreed with a wry smile.

Sirius put the frame back down on her desk. "So how many marriage proposals did you get today?"

"None, obviously," Nikki said, feeling amused. "Nobody just proposes like that."

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if someone did," he remarked as he sat down on her chair.

"I think my aunt introduced me to at least six guys. I can't even remember their names now," Nikki said as she took a seat on her bed.

"That's too bad," he said. _Good_, he thought to himself. _VJ doesn't know what he's talking about._

"Oh wait," she said. "I remember one of them—Manny."

"Manny?" Sirius asked, suddenly feeling discontented. "Which one was he?"

"He was the good looking guy," replied Nikki.

"No, that was _me_," Sirius clarified. He got up from the chair and sat down next to Nikki.

"Yeah he was the _other_ good looking guy," Nikki said with a smirk. "I think he was a dentist. He had perfect teeth. He seemed pretty cool."

"Really," Sirius said rather dryly.

"Yeah I think my mum really liked him."

"Sounds like a done deal," he said.

"Nah," said Nikki. She got the feeling that maybe Sirius was getting a little jealous. "I'm not interested in getting into a relationship just now."

"You're not?" Sirius didn't know if those were the words he really wanted to hear.

"Nope," she said with a smile, moving close to him. "So, enough talk. Did you miss me?"

* * *

Nikki woke up the next morning to the sound of her dad knocking her door.

"Nikki! Get up, it's late. Come down for breakfast."

"'Kay, I'm coming," she called out groggily, eyes still closed. She rubbed her eyes open and her arm fell to her side and hit something warm.

'Oh my God!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her bed.

"What? Oh shit!" Sirius exclaimed, looking at where he was. "What time is?"

"Nearly ten!" Nikki said anxiously.

"Crap, I fell asleep," Sirius said, getting up.

"You have to leave! Just Apparate the heck out of here!"

"Okay, I'm going…where's the cloak?" he asked looking around the room. He opened her closet doors and starting sifting through her clothes. As soon as he found it, Nikki's mother opened her door. Nikki thought she was about to die.

"Nikki, are you up?" her mother asked her. Sirius quickly threw the cloak on and all Nikki could see was her clothes in a jumble on the floor.

"Yes, I'm coming," she said, her hearting beating wildly in her chest.

"Oh, okay," Mrs. Patil said, unaware of her daughter's current state of terror. "I was just going to say that—what is that smell?"

"What smell?" Nikki asked.

"I don't know. It smells like men's cologne or something," she replied, sniffing the air.

"It's probably from my clothes that I wore last night," Nikki said, trying to think fast. "You made me meet so many guys. I probably stunk like them."

Her mother gave her cut-eye for her cheek but then said excitedly, "Okay get ready quickly. Change your clothes. Manny and his parents are going to be visiting this afternoon!"

"What?" she said.

"I think they really liked you!" her mother said cheerfully.

"Lovely," Nikki said with a tired sigh.

"I know!" she said as she shut the door happily behind her.

Sirius pulled the cloak off his head.

"Holy shit, that was close," she said, hands still shaking a little.

"Well, even if I was standing here without the cloak, I doubt your mum would've noticed my presence. She seems too preoccupied with thoughts of _Manny_," Sirius said, suddenly feeling more irritated than he was afraid just a minute ago.

"Well, thank God for that," Nikki said letting out a breath of relief. "Okay, seriously Sirius, you need to go."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm out. Have fun with Manny," he said grumpily.

"Yeah, right," she said. "I'll see you at school next week."

Sirius Apparated out of her room, leaving behind only the lingering scent of his cologne and a sense of shame in Nikki's heart. She looked at her unmade bed and felt sick to her stomach.

"I can't keep doing this," she said to herself, and walked out to join her family for breakfast.

* * *

A/N: Didn't change this chapter at all...enjoy anyways!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Anything related to the Harry Potter stories belongs to JKR. Everything else is mine.

CHAPTER TWELVE

It was the first day back at Hogwarts after the winter break and Nikki was doing her patrolling duties alone near the library. She found the solitude therapeutic; she had a lot on her mind and needed to think things through. A lot had happened during the holidays, and she really needed to organize her thoughts. The day she nearly got caught with Sirius in her bedroom was a turning point for Nikki. The immense guilt she had felt was too much for her to bear. She had decided that afternoon that she needed to confide in someone...

_"Hey," Nikki had said to her cousin at her uncle's house the day after the party. "Feeling nervous yet?" Misha was sitting on her bed in her room, organizing the last of her things to be moved out._

_"Not so much as I was a few days ago. I think the party last night really relaxed me," she replied. Nikki sat down next to her._

_"Speaking of the party," Nikki said, looking at Misha intently. "So what exactly happened between you and Remus?"_

_"Oh," Misha said with a giggle. "It was nothing. We met at a club last summer."_

_"A club?" Nikki asked, looking surprised. "You don't go clubbing. Your parents would kill you."_

_"Well they obviously didn't know," Misha said slyly. "I told them I was going to a friend's house."_

_Nikki looked confused. "But wait...weren't you engaged already at that time?"_

_"Yeah it was around the time everything was going on," Misha said with a shrug. "I dunno…I think I was just feeling trapped and pressured and I needed to just get out. So my friends took me clubbing. It was nothing. Just harmless fun. I met Remus at the club and we just danced and talked and stuff. That's all. I had no idea he was a wizard. Small world, eh?"_

_"Yeah, no kidding," Nikki said, absorbing the information. "So do you still feel that way?"_

_"What way?" Misha asked._

_"Trapped?"_

_"No, not at all," Misha said resolutely. "I really like Sandeep. The family seems to love him too."_

_"And you don't?" Nikki asked her, looking a bit taken aback._

_"Love is a strong word, Nikki," Misha said with a wry smile._

_"How can you marry him if you don't love him?" Nikki questioned her cousin._

_"Love can come after marriage," Misha explained to her. "Look at our parents."_

_"But that was them...we're different," she retorted._

_"I don't know," Misha said looking thoughtful. "I guess I'm taking a risk, but I think I'm doing the right thing. At least this way, we both are committed and serious about each other. It's better than having some meaningless relationship where you just end up getting hurt in the end." Nikki gulped. This was the perfect time for her to tell Misha what was bothering her._

_"Actually," Nikki said, taking a deep breath, "speaking of meaningless relationships, I need to tell you something."_

_"What?" Misha asked, looking at Nikki with a raised eyebrow._

_"Okay," she said taking another deep breath. "I've sort of been seeing someone...at school."_

_Misha's eyes went wide and she asked, "Who?"_

_"Well…"_

_"Wait," Misha said. "Was it one of the guys that came to the party?"_

_"Maybe," Nikki said, avoiding Misha's eyes._

_"Was he that really good looking one? The one that was wearing the black shirt?"_

_"Maybe," Nikki said again, looking up at her cousin with guilt written all over her face._

_"Oh my God," Misha said, with her hand over her mouth in disbelief. "Does VJ know?"_

_"No," Nikki said sternly, shaking her head. "Nobody does. Not even his friends. You're the only person I've told."_

_"So what's going on between you guys?" Misha asked in a low voice._

_"Nothing really," Nikki said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's all just...physical stuff."_

_"Oh my God. Nikki!" Misha said, her eyes now the size of saucers. "Have you guys—?"_

_"What?" Nikki asked, looking confused, but then once she grasped her meaning said, "Oh, no! Of course not. We haven't gone **that** far. I have my limits you know."_

_"I hope so," Misha muttered._

_"Yeah, but it's just getting too risky," Nikki confided. "Last night we almost got caught."_

_"Last night? At the party?"_

_"No afterwards," said Nikki. "He came over to our house."_

_"WHAT?"_

_"He Apparated into my room."_

_"Holy shit!" Misha exclaimed. "Nikki, are you crazy??"_

_"I know, I know," Nikki said feeling really ashamed. "I feel so guilty now. Even though we didn't really do anything last night. I was so sleepy. I think we just fell asleep talking."_

_"But still," Misha said reprimanding her. "He was in your room. The whole night."_

_Nikki buried her head in her hands. "That's why I came to talk to you. I dunno what to do."_

_"Well, it seems like you already know that what you're doing is just wrong," Misha said firmly._

_"I know," Nikki said, laying herself down onto Misha's bed in submission. "I've got to stop seeing him."_

_"Yes, you do. You've had your fun now. It's time to start being serious about your future," Misha said, sounding wiser than her years. "My mum told me about Manny. He seemed like a nice guy. And he likes you too, apparently."_

_"One guy at a time, Mish," Nikki said, lifting her head up to face her cousin. "I'm feeling too guilty about Sirius right now to think about anybody else."_

_"Yeah, well you don't have to worry until you're done school anyways."_

_"So what do I do?" she asked her cousin pleadingly._

_"About?" inquired Misha._

_"Sirius?" Nikki asked again._

_"Tell him you can't see him anymore," she answered flatly._

_"Just like that?" Nikki asked._

_"Yeah, it shouldn't matter if it was nothing serious anyways, right?"_

_"I guess," Nikki said with a shrug._

_"Unless..." Misha started to say after looking at her cousin's desolate demeanor, "you have feelings for him?"_

_"What?" Nikki said looking mildly surprised. "No."_

_"And he feels the same way about you?" she asked._

_"Yeah, definitely," Nikki said, without any trace of doubt. "He's never even had a steady girlfriend before. Trust me. It won't make a difference to him one way or another."_

_"Well, if you're that sure about it..."_

Was she sure? As Nikki leaned back against one of the cold walls in the corridor, she thought about how Sirius had been oddly distant and quiet with her the whole day—almost as if he had been avoiding her.

* * *

Sirius walked up the stone corridor to Gryffindor Tower, glad that the day was coming to an end. He had spent most of the day trying to avoid Nikki's company, even though all he really wanted to do was be near her. He felt that there was awkwardness between them—and he was afraid to know why. He figured that she was either feeling guilty about what they had done, or that something had happened between her and Manny. _Well, it's not like we even really **did** anything_, he reasoned with himself. _I guess it was just the fact that we were in her parents' house..._

"Hey, Sirius," said a girl's voice as he walked through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. Sirius looked up and saw Violet Brown coming towards him.

"Hi, Violet," he said. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," she said with a shy smile. "I was just wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Hmm," Sirius said looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Depends on what _kind_ of favor."

"It's nothing..._weird_," she said looking at Sirius like she was reconsidering asking him.

"So what do you need?" Sirius asked her with a friendly smile.

Violet immediately looked more at ease and said, "Well, someone told me you were good at Potions."

"Sure, I'm okay," he said modestly.

"I was wondering if maybe you could tutor me," she said looking a bit anxious.

"Tutor you?" Sirius repeated. "Me?"

"Yeah," she said. "I asked Lily but she's way too busy with Head duties, and the only other people I know who are good in Potions are you and Snape. And there's no way I'm going to ask him."

"Uh..." Sirius ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't sure how much spare time he had either.

"Even if it's just once a week, that's good enough for me," Violet said, sensing what he was thinking.

"I can only spare maybe an hour."

"That's perfect," Violet said happily and she thanked him and walked away, leaving Sirius to make his way up to the boys' dormitory.

"So, Padfoot," Remus said to Sirius as they were "studying" in their dorm that evening. "You still haven't told us where you disappeared to that night during the holidays."

"What night?" Sirius asked, looking up from his Quidditch magazine.

"The night we crashed the Patil party," Remus replied.

"Oh," Sirius said. He looked back down at his magazine and said nonchalantly, "I just went to see someone."

"A girl?" Remus asked curiously.

_"The_ girl?" James added, just as curious.

_"The_ girl?" Remus asked James, looking confused. "Sirius, you have_ a_ girl? Why didn't I know about this?"

"I hardly know anything either," James told Remus. "All I know is that he's been having some good times with some chick who doesn't want a serious relationship."

"Damn," Remus said with envy. "Where do you find these girls? Lucky bastard."

"Anyways," James said with a sly grin. "I think however, our poor lucky bastard has developed feelings for this dream girl."

"Okay, _who_ is this girl?" Remus asked Sirius. "You've got to tell us."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," said Sirius, still not looking away from his magazine.

Remus started to ponder. "It can't be Dana Abbott. She might put out, but she's not the feelings-developing type. It's obviously not Lily…or Violet…"

"Hold on a second," James said. "It's Nikki, isn't it?" Sirius put his magazine down and looked at his friend.

"Nikki Patil? No way," Remus said with full conviction. "She wouldn't do that. Would she?"

"Er..." Sirius said.

"Holy shit!" Remus exclaimed, dropping his book onto the ground. "Are you serious? She would never—oh, my God. You corrupted her, didn't you? She was a nice girl, Sirius."

"Hey! I didn't force her to do anything," Sirius said in his defense.

"Oh please," Remus said accusingly. "You probably..._seduced_ her or something."

"Oh, well, excuse me, Mr. I Have a New Girlfriend Every Week—"

"Hey!" Remus said, cutting Sirius off. "That's not _my_ fault. Girls ask _me_ out. I can't say no. It's rude. But you—_you_, I know must've done something to her."

"Oh, gees, knew he'd react this way," Sirius said to James, pointing at Remus, who looked slightly offended. "Anyways, it doesn't matter. I'm the one in trouble here, not her. She seems to be perfectly happy."

"What's the trouble?" James asked him.

"Well, if you didn't notice, her mum and aunt are on a mission to get her hooked up! She was chatting up guys the whole damn night of the party. And then some bloke named Manny was supposed to see her the next day, too," Sirius said rather bitterly.

"Ooh, he's getting jealous," Remus said with a grin.

"No, I'm not," Sirius said. "Just...I dunno. I'm confused. I thought about waiting outside their house and then hexing Manny before he got to their door."

"Well, it's pretty obvious that you like her," James said.

"I guess," Sirius muttered.

"So why don't you tell her how you feel?" Remus asked.

"Just like that?" Sirius asked back.

"Yeah, why not? What's the worst that can happen?"

"Gee, let me think..." Sirius replied sarcastically.

"Well, you're going to have to take a risk," James told his friend sternly. "Otherwise she's just going to end up with Manny or whoever her parents are trying to hook her up with anyways."

Sirius looked back down at his magazine. He knew his friends were right, but he was afraid of what Nikki's reaction would be. He was certain that there was a strong possibility of being rejected by her—it wouldn't be the first time.

"Ah, sod it," Sirius said throwing down his magazine, getting up from his bed. "Might as well get this over with."

* * *

Nikki was starting to get tired. Doing rounds alone wasn't as helpful as she thought it would be. The more she thought about her situation, the more confused she felt. She put her hand in her pocket and felt a piece of paper. She took it out and remembered that it was the letter she had received earlier that day. It was another one of the strange notes she had been getting before the break. She read it again: _The break was torturous. I longed to see your face once again. _

She looked at the paper, trying to find some kind of clue. _Who is sending me these?_

"Hey," a familiar voice behind her said.

"Oh, hey," Nikki said, shoving the note into her pocket.

"Doing your rounds alone tonight?" Sirius asked.

"Yep," Nikki replied. She was surprised to see Sirius tonight. "So I didn't really see you around much today."

"Yeah I know, I was kinda…busy," Sirius replied, rather lamely.

"Oh," Nikki said with a raised eyebrow.

"So how'd your date with Manny go that day?" Sirius asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Date? I didn't have a date with him," Nikki clarified. "He just came over with his parents. It was nothing really."

"Your mum didn't seem to think it was 'nothing'," he said with dry laugh. He was starting to feel really frustrated. _Just tell her_, he said to himself.

"Yeah, I know what my mum thinks," Nikki said unimportantly. "I just play along with whatever she says."

"Well how long are you going to do that for?" Sirius didn't mean for it to be, but his voice sounded a bit harsh.

"However long I want," Nikki said with a frown.

"So what…you're going to keep playing along until you find yourself married off one day?" he asked her, his voice light again.

"Obviously not," Nikki said resolutely, but feeling thoroughly confused inside. "I'm just buying my time. "

"How much do you have left?" Sirius muttered.

"What?" Nikki asked him.

"Nothing," Sirius replied. There was an awkward silence between them and Nikki decided that now was the best time to tell him what she had decided on telling him with her cousin.

"Listen," she said, breaking the silence. "There's something I need to speak to you about."

"Oh?" Sirius said, a bit surprised.

Nikki was about to tell him when they heard someone calling out to them from across the hall.

"Hey!" It was VJ.

"Oh, hey VJ," Nikki said. _Damn,_ she thought to herself. She could tell from Sirius's face that he was thinking the same thing.

"What're you guys doing out here?" VJ asked them.

"Nothing. I'm on duty," Nikki replied. VJ looked at Sirius, who obviously didn't have Prefect duty.

"Yeah, I was just passing through," said Sirius, and then wondered why he was justifying himself to VJ. "What're _you_ doing here?"

"Huh?" VJ asked. "Oh I was just…passing through." The two boys stared at each other with what Nikki thought looked like mistrust.

"I think my shift is over," she said, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, good," VJ said, taking Nikki's arm. "I was just on my way back to the dorm. See ya later, Black."

"Nikki," Sirius said suddenly. She turned to look at him with her big brown eyes and Sirius was tempted to rip Nikki away from VJ's protective grasp and kiss her right in front of him.

"Yeah?" she asked him.

_Just tell her_, the voice in his head said to him again. _W__ho cares if VJ's there? What can he do, anyways?_

"I—uh, just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have with Lily tomorrow evening for Muggle Studies." He couldn't bring himself to say it. Sirius wanted to punch himself. Or did he want to punch VJ?

"Oh, right," Nikki said. "Thanks for reminding me. Well, see you tomorrow. Good night." Sirius watched her as she left with her cousin and then turned around and headed towards Gryffindor Tower, alone.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Nikki asked VJ as they made their way to Ravenclaw Tower.

"What was what all about?" he asked her back.

"That awkward stare-down you just had with Sirius," Nikki replied.

"I don't know what you're talking about," VJ said with what Nikki noticed was an overly indifferent shrug.

"VJ," she said sternly, "I'm not an idiot."

"Don't worry about it," said VJ rolling his eyes. "It doesn't concern you."

"Yeah right," she muttered, feeling miffed.

"Okay, see? This is why I told you to forget it. If I say anything, I know you'll just get pissed at me again," VJ said to Nikki as they walked through the portrait hole.

"Oh, don't tell me it's about _that_ again," Nikki moaned exasperatedly.

"All I'm saying," he explained in a lower voice after noticing a lot of students were still hanging around in the common room, "is that he's still looking at you all the time. I just don't like it. I know that look. It's not good."

"Look, VJ. For the last time, there is nothing going on between us," Nikki lied through gritted teeth. _Well, it's not __really__ a lie, _she thought to herself. _It meant nothing. And now it's over. I'm not going to do it anymore._

"Okay, alright," VJ said backing down a little, trying to get her to calm down. "I'm just telling you so you stay on your guard. He's not someone you should ever consider getting involved with in any way. He's with different girls all the time. You don't know his type."

"Yeah, I do," Nikki said as she reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to the girls' dormitory. "He's just like _you_."

* * *

A/N: I just added the beginning of the last chapter to the end of this one...it seemed to flow better. Anyhoo...on to the next chapter!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: JKR, please don't sue me. I don't want any money. You can have my story if you want.

CHAPTER 13

"Oi, Padfoot. Wake up," James said as he poked Sirius with his wand the next morning. "You're going to be late for breakfast."

"Mm nn ugry," came a muffled sound from under Sirius's blanket.

"Did he just say he wasn't hungry?" Remus asked James as he exited the washroom. They both looked at each other with concern and then Remus whispered, "Did something happen last night?"

"I dunno," James shrugged. "I didn't ask yet."

"I can hear you guys, you know," Sirius's more distinctive voice said.

"So why aren't you getting up then?" Remus asked him.

They heard an irritated grumble and then Sirius kicked off his blanket and got out of bed and walked into the washroom, shutting the door loudly behind him.

* * *

"You sure eat a lot for someone who isn't hungry," Remus remarked to Sirius a short while later during breakfast as he watched his friend scarf down at least ten pancakes.

"Milk," was all Sirius said in reply, and James dutifully passed him a jug. Just as Sirius was chugging down a glass, he looked up and saw VJ walk past his table. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched him walking with his girlfriend of the day on his arm. His eyes moved to the doors just as Nikki entered through them, her long dark hair flowing gracefully behind her...

Nikki didn't want to do it, but she knew she had to. For every moment she spent alone with Sirius, she knew she was betraying her parents' trust, and not to mention, the constant lies she had been telling to her cousin and friends. She had thought about not telling Sirius, just to get back at VJ, but she knew that wouldn't do her any good. _That's it. I can't do it anymore. I'm telling him today, no matter what. _She walked through the Great Hall apprehensively, telling herself not to look up, lest she be tempted again after seeing him.

She was halfway through the Hall when she decided that one small peek couldn't hurt. She knew exactly where he was sitting, so she took a chance and thought she'd just glance in his direction for half a second. As soon as she moved her eyes, she knew she had made a mistake. Sirius was staring right at her, giving her that intense "look" that VJ was always bothering her about. _Oh no, _she thought. _Please don't look at me like that. You're making this really hard on me. _She tore her eyes away from him and continued her way to the table her roommates were already seated at.

"Padfoot, stop undressing Nikki with your eyes," said James with a nudge into his side, breaking Sirius's gaze.

"What?" asked Sirius obliviously, as he continued to eat his breakfast.

"Never mind," said James.

* * *

"I'm gonna do it. I've made up my mind," announced Lanie later that evening as she and the other seventh year Ravenclaw girls were just about finishing up their dinner.

"To do what?" asked Nikki as she drank the last of her pumpkin juice.

"I'm going to finally ask Remus," she replied resolutely.

Marcia's eyes widened and she hissed to Lanie, "You're going to ask Remus out?"

"What! Are you crazy?" Lanie exclaimed.

"Then what are you gonna ask him?" Terri inquired, looking thoroughly confused.

"I'm going to ask him if I can borrow his Transfiguration notes," she said cheerfully.

"Oh, God," Nikki said exasperatedly. "You make it seem like it's some life-altering decision you're making."

"Well, you never know. It could turn into something big," Lanie said optimistically, with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Right," said Marcia, looking very unimpressed.

"I heard he's going out with Rosalyn Zeller," Terri said, as they got up from their seats.

"Another Hufflepuff tramp?" asked Marcia. "I thought he was just going out with Dana Abbott!"

"Nah, he broke up with her before the break," said Lanie.

"Wow, Remus really gets around, doesn't he?" said Nikki with a smirk.

"Well, it's understandable why he wouldn't want to get too close to anyone," remarked Lanie, thoughtfully.

"Oh, no, Lanie," moaned Terri. "Don't start with that werewolf rubbish again."

"Yeah, why are you making excuses for him?" asked Marcia tersely. "He's a man-whore, plain and simple. Admit it."

"Never," Lanie shook her head defiantly, crossing her arms together.

"Alright girls," Nikki said with a smile, "Although I'd love to stay and debate with you all on Remus's love life, I'm off. I'll see you later."

Nikki turned around and made her way through the corridors and headed towards the library for her Muggle Studies meeting with Lily and Sirius. Thinking about Sirius brought butterflies into her stomach again. Every time she saw him or thought of him that whole day, her stomach would turn. She felt nervous. She didn't want to not see him again, but she knew that was just selfishness taking over her. _It's not fair, _she complained to herself. _He'll still get to go around and do whatever with whoever. And I'm going to be alone...doing nothing. _But then the thought of her parents came back into her mind and she scolded herself for being so immature. She knew telling Sirius was the right thing to do, and was going to do it.

Nikki anxiously turned a corner, and she could hear laughter behind her. She looked back and saw Regulus Black and his friends standing around. She caught his eye and saw him stare at her for a second until a frown formed over his face and he promptly looked away.

She was right in front of the library' when she felt someone poke her side from behind.

"Boo," Sirius said with a smile as they both walked through the doors.

"Hey," Nikki said, returning his infectious smile, although she was groaning internally. **_So_**_ not fair_..._stupid sexy Sirius..._

They both found Lily already sitting at a table on the centre floor. James was standing around with a pile books in his arms.

As Nikki walked up to the table, she could just hear James saying to Lily, "Don't be ridiculous! I would never let our kids—"

"_Our_ kids?" Lily interrupted, looking at James with surprise.

"Wow, you guys are moving fast," Sirius said with a grin as he slapped an embarrassed looking James on the back.

"I didn't mean...I mean, I was just explaining...never mind," James said, flustered. "I gotta go." He grabbed his things hastily and left. As he walked out, Nikki noticed that Lily was watching him go with a hazy look in her eyes.

"Oi, Evans," Sirius said, waving a hand in front of her face. "Stop dreaming about Potter and your future kids together and let's get to work."

The three of them worked diligently for three hours straight; a little too diligently, as if each of them was trying very hard not to think of anything else that could have been occupying their minds. Lily was the first to decide that she finally needed to go out for a break.

When Lily got up and left them alone, Nikki realized that this could be a good time to finally tell Sirius.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she cleared her throat. She was about to say something when Sirius abruptly got up from his seat. Nikki thought that he was going to leave, but he only came over to Lily's chair, which was next to Nikki, and sat down in it. He, too, realized that this might be the only time he could tell Nikki how he felt about her.

"So," he said to Nikki. His heart started to pound in his chest and started to feel very nervous. _C'mon_, _just_ _tell_ _her, you chicken. It might be your only chance._

Just as he was trying to find the right words, Nikki was building up the courage to say hers.

She took a deep breath and said, "I—," when she saw somebody standing in front of them.

"Hey, Sirius." It was Violet Brown. "Hi, Nikki."

"Hey," replied Nikki.

"How's it going?" Sirius asked her casually.

"Fine," she said to him with a sweet smile. "So I just wanted to ask if maybe we can set up something for tomorrow night if you're free."

"Tomorrow night..." Sirius pondered for a moment. "Yeah, that should be fine."

"Great," said Violet. "Where did you want to meet?"

"The common room?"

"Okay we can go somewhere else from there if we need to," Violet replied.

"Sure, no problem," Sirius said with a easy smile.

"Alright, see you then," Violet said, cheerfully. "Bye, Nikki."

"Bye," Nikki said, smiling as broadly as she could, even though on the inside she wanted nothing more than to kick Violet in her smiling face. _I didn't know that Sirius hooked up with Violet..._

Violet turned around and left just as Lily came back.

"That was a short break," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair_. Dammit. Now when I am going to tell her?_

"Yeah he wasn't there," Lily said distractedly, sitting across from them in what was Sirius's chair.

"Who wasn't where?" Nikki asked her.

"Who?" Lily repeated, looking confused. "Oh, I meant...argh, never mind. I dunno what I'm saying." She rubbed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair frustratingly.

"I'm exhausted," she said.

"You know, we're almost done anyways," Sirius said to Lily. "Why don't you just go and we'll finish up."

"Really?" she asked, looking relieved. "Nikki, you don't mind?"

"Not at all," Nikki said. At this point, Nikki couldn't wait to tell Sirius exactly what was on her mind. Lily packed up her notes and books and left the library. They were finally alone.

There was an awkward silence between them, and then Sirius cleared his throat.

"Um..." he started to say until Nikki interrupted him.

"Oh, yeah...I forgot," Nikki said, as if she just remembered that she had something to tell Sirius, and had not been contemplating over it for the past two weeks. "I was going to tell you something yesterday when VJ came and interrupted me."

"Oh," Sirius said, looking at her earnestly. "What?"

"I was just thinking...it's getting kinda...I mean..." Nikki rehearsed what she was going to say the whole day, but now that it was time to say it, she weren't coming out right. Her heart was pounding. She took a deep breath. "I don't think we should go sneaking around doing...stuff...anymore."

"Oh..." Sirius looked at her confusedly for a moment. "Okay." _What does she mean? She doesn't want to keep it secret anymore? _

"I just think that it's..." Nikki could feel her hands shaking and she kept them under the table, trying to keep her voice steady. "I just can't do it. I feel too guilty."

"I think I understand," Sirius said slowly. _I'm so confused. Should I just tell her? Okay, I'm doing it._ "Nikki, I think I—"

"And anyways," Nikki interrupted him, too anxious to even notice he was about to say anything at all. "It's all meaningless. It's not like we actually have, you know, those types of feelings for each other. It's all just physical. I'm just making myself feel guilty for something so unimportant. For nothing."

Sirius felt his heart drop down to his stomach. "Right," he said in a barely audible voice. "For nothing."

"It shouldn't make a difference for you anyways," said Nikki, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "I'm sure you'll find someone to replace me." _Like Violet_.

Sirius didn't say anything. He couldn't. He just stared at the book in front of him, wondering how the conversation had come to this. He knew there was a possibility he'd get rejected, but he had no idea it would feel like _this_. He had to get out of there before she realized how sick he was feeling. He looked down at his watch.

"It's pretty late. I think I'm gonna head out now," he said, grabbing his things hastily.

"Oh, okay," Nikki said, a little taken aback.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," he said, mustering up the fakest smile he had ever given, and left.

Nikki let out a breath, trying to calm her nerves.

"Well, then. It's done. I finally did it," she said to herself. Nikki was expecting to feel an immense relief after telling him, but instead, there was an overwhelming emptiness filling up inside of her. She looked around the abandoned library, recalling all the times she had spent there alone with Sirius. _Stop being silly_, she told herself. _It's not like he really liked you. He could've told you if he did. He had plenty of time. Well, even if he did, which is extremely doubtful, your parents would never approve of him. So forget about him. It's over_. _You saw for yourself what kind of a guy he is. Why would you even let him touch you in the first place? _

"I know, I know. It was the right thing to do," she said out loud. "But why do I feel like I just made a huge mistake?"

* * *

A/N: One more chapter to fix and then its back to writing! If anyone has any comments or suggestions, feel free to let me know.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: blahblahblah...JKR's stuff's not mine.

CHAPTER 14

_Misha,_

_So, I did it. I told him it was over. It's been two weeks. I thought I would've felt relieved after doing it--that my conscience would clear up. I know it was the right thing to do, but these have been the most miserable two weeks of my life. I feel so alone these days. I don't know why. I feel like everyone's got someone and I'm the only loser who's all alone. I know it's a silly thing to dwell about, but I can't help feeling like that. VJ's always got some girl hanging around him; James and Lily are always busy doing Head stuff; Remus changes girlfriends every minute; and Lanie, Marcia and Terri are always doing their own thing. Sirius has been spending a lot of time with Violet Brown these days (she's some 7th year Gryffindor girl—I never really liked her). I know this is going to sound like I'm a terrible person, but I hate that he always looks so happy. I want him to be m__iserable—like _me. _What's wrong with me?_

_Missing you,_

_Nikki_

Nikki folded her letter to her cousin, slipped it into an envelope and put it into her bag. She looked around her empty dormitory and sighed. It was ten o'clock on a Saturday and it seemed like everyone had plans that night except for her. She remembered how Saturday nights used to be before the winter holidays...her and Sirius...alone in some abandoned corner of the castle...

"Well, I guess I might as well go and send this letter now. It's not like I have anything else to do," she said to herself sullenly as she grabbed her bag and set out to go to the Owlrey, alone.

* * *

"Come on. It's been two weeks," Remus said to Sirius as they were walking down the hall that same night in the castle.

"Yeah, mate," added James. "You really need to get over her and move on."

"It's not that easy, okay?" Sirius said touchily. "I can't just—oh HAAAAHAHAHAHA!"

"What?" Remus asked, looking at Sirius strangely.

Sirius continued to laugh out loud, and slapped Peter on the back, "Oh, man, that was a good one!"

"What's so fu—oh," James was saying right before he realized why Sirius had suddenly become so exuberantly cheerful. They had just turned a corner and saw Nikki coming towards them.

"Hey, guys," Nikki said with a smile.

"Hi, Nikki," Remus replied.

"How's it going?" James asked in a friendly tone.

"Definitely not as good as you guys, it seems," she replied with a wry smile, looking at Sirius in particular.

"Well, we don't have any reason to not be good," Sirius said with an extra cocky grin as he ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Nikki, trying very hard not to look as depressed as she felt. Sirius looked so good—she couldn't stand it. "Well, I'm off to the Owlrey. I'll catch you guys later."

"See ya," Sirius said with a short wave of his hand. As soon as she was out of sight, he let out a breath.

"Did you see that?" he asked his friends incredulously. "She's totally normal. I hate it. Why do I have to be the one to suffer?"

"You don't _have_ to be..." Remus suggested matter-of-factly.

"Did it seem like she wanted to get away from me?" asked Sirius, ignoring Remus's comment.

James shook his head. "No, I—"

"Yeah, she can't stand me," Sirius said, cutting him off. "I bet that's really why she broke it off."

"Sirius," Remus said sternly, "I don't think—"

"Fine," Sirius interrupted him, looking resolute. "I'm totally over her."

Remus and James exchanged a furtive look.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sirius asked them, a little too eagerly. "I'm bored. Let's go do something extra crazy tonight. I wanna have some fun."

* * *

"Why me?" Nikki asked herself as she walked up the staircase leading to the Owlrey. "Why do I have to be so miserable while he gets to look better than ever?"

She was nearly at the top when a huge white owl swooped down in front of her.

"Stupid owl!" she exclaimed, trying to catch her breath. "You scared me." The owl dropped a letter into her hands and flew back up.

"Oh, no," she said as she saw the familiar scrawl on the envelope. "Not another one." She opened the letter.

_I hate myself. I shouldn't like you. It's so wrong._

"Gosh, this is getting creepy," Nikki muttered to herself as she stuffed the note into her pocket. She walked through the door of the Owlrey, and saw that someone else was already in there.

"Anthony," she said, and he turned around, looking surprised.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she said back, and then a thought crossed her mind. "Did you just send a letter out?"

He looked at her strangely and said, "Um...yeah like just now."

"Oh, I see," Nikki said, raising an eyebrow archly. "That's odd 'cause I just got a letter."

"Weird coincidence," Anthony said with a shrug.

"Isn't it?" Nikki muttered as she tied her letter to one of the school's owls. The owl flew out into the night and Nikki turned around to head back down.

Anthony followed her out and asked, "So are you headed back to Ravenclaw Tower?"

"Yeah," replied Nikki, going down the stairs.

"So am I. I'll walk with you," said Anthony.

As they walked down the corridor in silence, Nikki caught a glimpse of Sirius turning the corner of the adjacent hallway. She sighed to herself, secretly wishing it was Sirius walking with her, on their way to an empty classroom. She remebered how soft his perfect hair used to feel when she ran her fingers through it...

"So, Nikki," Anthony said, interrupting Nikki's fantasy. "I was just wondering..."

"Yeah?" Nikki asked him.

"Are you going to be busy next weekend?"

Nikki thought for a moment and then said, "I think it's a Hogsmeade weekend."

"Yeah, it is," Anthony agreed with her. "So...are you going to be doing anything...in particular?"

"I don't think so..." Nikki said hesitantly.

Anthony looked at her intently. "So do you think that maybe we could hang out or something?"

"Hang out?" Nikki looked at him confusedly but then realized what he was really asking. "Do you mean like, on a _date_?"

"Maybe," Anthony replied.

"Oh," Nikki didn't know what to say. She looked at Anthony with a regretful smile. "Er...well actually, I don't really date."

"You don't?" he asked her, looking taken aback.

"No, I'm sorry," said Nikki, feeling very awkward. She was very relieved to see Lily walking down the hall--she wanted an excuse to leave Anthony as soon as she could.

"Lily!" she called out to her as Anthony continued his way back to Ravenclaw Tower, alone.

"Hey, Nikki," Lily said as she approached Nikki. "You haven't seen James around, have you?"

"Yeah, actually I did. It wasn't too long ago. He was with Remus, Sirius and Peter," Nikki answered.

"Oh...right, I forgot. It's probably a full moo—" Lily cleared her throat. "—onth since they all hung out last."

"I guess," Nikki shrugged indifferently.

"So, we finally get a Hogsmeade weekend coming up. I've been waiting _forever_," Lily said, sounding exasperated. "I need a break."

"I know, seriously," Nikki agreed, nodding her head.

"Got any plans for that weekend? Got a date or something?" Lily asked with a suggestive grin.

"Ha...funny you should mention that," Nikki said, lowering her voice a little. "Anthony Chang _just_ asked me out."

"Ooh, he did?" Lily asked her, excitedly.

"Yeah, but obviously I said I couldn't," she replied casually.

"What?" Lily looked surprised. "Why not? He's cute and nice...and smart. You guys would look so good together. Unless...there's someone else you like?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Nikki shook her head. "He's a nice guy I guess...it's just that I don't date."

"Oh..."

"My parents would kill me if they found out I had a boyfriend," Nikki clarified.

Lily looked confused for a moment. "But I see your cousin with girls all the time..."

"Yeah," Nikki said sardonically. "His parents would kill him too if they found out."

"So what if you liked someone and they liked you. What would you do?" Lily asked with curiosity.

"Well, we've only got a few months left here so I highly doubt that will happen," Nikki quipped.

"Yeah, but just hypothetically..." Lily pressed.

Nikki thought for a second and then shook her head earnestly. "I can't say. I...honestly don't know."

Lily was about to say something when the sound of very loud jeering and laughter started to come from across the hall.

"What was that?" she asked Nikki. They both rushed towards the racket and were shocked to see a frightened fourth year Hufflepuff boy being suspending into the air as three older Slytherin boys laughed at him. One of the boys, Nikki noted, was Regulus.

"Oi!" Lily yelled from behind them. "Put him down!"

The boys turned around to face her and one of them stepped up, crossing his arms, and said with a deep contempt, "Why should I? He's just a stupid Mudblood."

"Watch your mouth!" Nikki scolded the boy, her blood starting to boil.

"Oh, right," scoffed the boy. "I forgot. You're both Mudbloods, too." With that, Lily and Nikki both whipped out their wands and pointed it at the boy, who was about to take his out as well when Regulus stopped him.

"Forget it," he said to his friend while glaring at Lily and Nikki with repulsion. "They aren't worth it. Let's just go." They dropped the suspended boy to the ground and walked away, muttering and swearing.

Nikki muttered a swear word of her own under her breath as she watched them leave. As the boys turned a corner, she saw Regulus glaring in their direction one last time before they disappeared completely.

* * *

The following evening, Nikki was on her way to the library to work with Sirius and Lily when she met Remus who was also heading in that direction. When they entered the library and went towards the back tables, they spotted Sirius already sitting there, with Violet Brown.

Violet was sitting across from Sirius, but as soon as she saw Remus, she quickly got up and sat next to Sirius, and started to say in what Nikki thought was a very whiny, yet seductive voice, "Sirius, I still don't understand this potion. You're going to have to explain it to me one more time."

She glanced up and looked at Nikki only and said with a very sweet smile, "Hi, Nikki." Sirius's head immediately popped up at the mention of her name.

"Oh, hey guys," he said casually to Nikki and Remus.

"Hey," Remus said stiffly, giving Sirius a covert look. Nikki put her books down at the table and surveyed the floor, wondering if Lily was around.

"You meeting James and Peter here?" Sirius asked Remus, who was still standing and also looking around the room.

"No, actually I'm meeting Rosalyn," replied Remus.

"Oh!" exclaimed Violet suddenly, grabbing Sirius's arm, but still looking at her books. "I get it now!"

"Yeah, see I told you it was easy," Sirius said to her.

"No, it's the way you explained it. You make everything _so_ much easier. You're _such_ a good tutor," Violet gushed at him. Nikki couldn't believe the drama unfolding in front of her eyes. She and Remus exchanged an annoyed look and he decided it was time for him to leave. Nikki wished she could go with him...

As soon as Remus was out of sight, Violet packed up her books and left as well, leaving Nikki feeling both relieved and anxious. Nikki became aware of the fact that she was sitting alone at a table with Sirius. It was the same spot they sat at the first time they were in the library alone—as well as the spot where she told him she couldn't see him anymore. She quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head and opened her books.

"So," Nikki heard Sirius say. She looked up and saw him leaning back in his chair languidly, but looking at her very fixedly.

"So," she said back, wishing he wouldn't look at her like that. "So, you're helping Violet in Potions? That's very nice of you."

He gave her a small shrug, his eyes still glued to her face. She cleared her throat and continued to say, "I guess you're really busy these days. I hardly see you at all anymore."

Sirius couldn't believe she had just said that. He stared at her for a second and then slammed his chair back down and muttered, "Well, that's not _my_ fault." He couldn't take sitting alone with her and not being able to touch her anymore. It was driving him crazy. He let out a sigh of relief when he finally saw Lily's red head coming towards them.

"Hey sorry I'm late," Lily said, looking very flushed.

"That's alright," Sirius said, looking at her curiously. "Why do you look so flustered?"

"What?" she asked. "No, I'm not."

"Were you with James?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"James?" she repeated, sounding confused. "No, I was—"

"Lily!" A voice from across the room suddenly called out, cutting Lily off. James came running towards their table and dropped a sweater down in front of her and said, "You forgot this."

* * *

Nikki waited the whole day so that she could go somewhere to read it in private, and when she stepped into her dormitory that evening the next day, her patience was duly rewarded. It was empty.

"Ah, thank God," she said as she sat down on her bed. She knew after pouring her feelings out to her cousin, that Misha would be sending her a long and understanding reply. She hastily took the letter that she had been saving since the owls delivered them that morning out of her bag and ripped the envelope open.

All it said was:

_Nikki,_

_You stupid girl. You've completely fallen for him. Now what are you going to do? _

_-Misha_

* * *

A/N: I'll try to have the new chapters up soon...time to write!


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